From Voice to Authority: Re‑Shaping Disability and DFV Systems Through Lived Experience Leadership
Tracks
Tamborine Gallery
| Tuesday, September 1, 2026 |
| 1:00 PM - 1:20 PM |
Overview
Melonie Sheehan & Christine Smith, Destination Accessible
Three Key Learnings
1. Lived experience must hold real authority, not just a voice.
When lived experience leads governance, service design and decision‑making, systems become safer, more accountable and more responsive.
2. Genuine co‑design requires a shift in power, not just consultation.
Co‑design is meaningful only when lived experience shapes decisions, resources and priorities, and when tokenism or extractive engagement is actively prevented.
3. Real power‑sharing requires systems to relinquish control and stay accountable.
For lived experience to move from “voice” to “power,” organisations must challenge professional dominance, respond when lived experience is ignored and embed accountability into everyday practice.
Speaker
Ms Melonie Sheehan
Chief Operating Officer
Destination Accessible
From Voice to Authority: Re‑Shaping Disability and DFV Systems Through Lived Experience Leadership
Abstract
This presentation shares the story of two women, one with lived experience of disability and a long policing career, and one with deep DFV and social work expertise, who have shifted lived experience from “voice” to real authority across the disability and DFV sectors. By bringing these sectors together and naming their shared responsibilities, we expose the often‑ignored nexus where women with disability are twice as likely to experience domestic and family violence as women without disability.
Despite experiencing some of the highest rates of violence in Australia, women with disability remain surrounded by systems rarely designed with their safety, autonomy or lived experience at the center of their needs. Destination Accessible is a women‑led, social‑purpose for‑profit organisation providing disability accommodation and support across Geelong and the Bellarine. As a values‑driven organisation that partners with community services, this structure enables DA to be responsive, flexible and nimble, demonstrated through Christine’s leadership in accessible design and disability inclusion.
Our presentation shows how combining disability accommodation and DFV expertise creates a strong platform for system reform. We demonstrate how lived experience leadership has moved from being “consulted” to holding structural authority, shaping governance, service design, risk frameworks and everyday decision‑making.
Christine’s lived experience of paralysis and hearing loss, alongside her policing background, gives her the authority to name realities disability systems often overlook. Melonie’s DFV and social work expertise translates these insights into person‑centred, trauma‑informed and gender‑responsive practice that avoids tokenism, challenges professional dominance and strengthens safety for those most at risk.
Together, we show what genuine co‑design requires, how accountability must operate when lived experience is dismissed, and what systems must relinquish for real power‑sharing to occur.
This is a story of lived experience as authority and how using our voices through a social‑purpose lens creates meaningful, practical and lasting change.
Despite experiencing some of the highest rates of violence in Australia, women with disability remain surrounded by systems rarely designed with their safety, autonomy or lived experience at the center of their needs. Destination Accessible is a women‑led, social‑purpose for‑profit organisation providing disability accommodation and support across Geelong and the Bellarine. As a values‑driven organisation that partners with community services, this structure enables DA to be responsive, flexible and nimble, demonstrated through Christine’s leadership in accessible design and disability inclusion.
Our presentation shows how combining disability accommodation and DFV expertise creates a strong platform for system reform. We demonstrate how lived experience leadership has moved from being “consulted” to holding structural authority, shaping governance, service design, risk frameworks and everyday decision‑making.
Christine’s lived experience of paralysis and hearing loss, alongside her policing background, gives her the authority to name realities disability systems often overlook. Melonie’s DFV and social work expertise translates these insights into person‑centred, trauma‑informed and gender‑responsive practice that avoids tokenism, challenges professional dominance and strengthens safety for those most at risk.
Together, we show what genuine co‑design requires, how accountability must operate when lived experience is dismissed, and what systems must relinquish for real power‑sharing to occur.
This is a story of lived experience as authority and how using our voices through a social‑purpose lens creates meaningful, practical and lasting change.
Biography
Melonie Sheehan is a social worker and member of the Australian Association of Social Workers, with a 30‑year career spanning Child and Family Services, and more than a decade leading domestic and family violence‑informed practice. She has held governance and stakeholder engagement roles with 1800Respect and most recently served as Clinical Director. As Chief Operating Officer at Destination Accessible, she drives person‑centred, trauma‑informed practice and system reform across intersecting sectors. Amother of three and advocate for women’s leadership, she brings a gender‑responsive, community‑grounded lens to governance and service design, strengthening safe housing, practice integrity and power‑sharing across complex system
Ms Christine Smith
Chief Executive Officer
Destination Accessible
From Voice to Authority: Re‑Shaping Disability and DFV Systems Through Lived Experience Leadership
Abstract
This presentation shares the story of two women, one with lived experience of disability and a long policing career, and one with deep DFV and social work expertise, who have shifted lived experience from “voice” to real authority across the disability and DFV sectors. By bringing these sectors together and naming their shared responsibilities, we expose the often‑ignored nexus where women with disability are twice as likely to experience domestic and family violence as women without disability.
Despite experiencing some of the highest rates of violence in Australia, women with disability remain surrounded by systems rarely designed with their safety, autonomy or lived experience at the center of their needs. Destination Accessible is a women‑led, social‑purpose for‑profit organisation providing disability accommodation and support across Geelong and the Bellarine. As a values‑driven organisation that partners with community services, this structure enables DA to be responsive, flexible and nimble, demonstrated through Christine’s leadership in accessible design and disability inclusion.
Our presentation shows how combining disability accommodation and DFV expertise creates a strong platform for system reform. We demonstrate how lived experience leadership has moved from being “consulted” to holding structural authority, shaping governance, service design, risk frameworks and everyday decision‑making.
Christine’s lived experience of paralysis and hearing loss, alongside her policing background, gives her the authority to name realities disability systems often overlook. Melonie’s DFV and social work expertise translates these insights into person‑centred, trauma‑informed and gender‑responsive practice that avoids tokenism, challenges professional dominance and strengthens safety for those most at risk.
Together, we show what genuine co‑design requires, how accountability must operate when lived experience is dismissed, and what systems must relinquish for real power‑sharing to occur.
This is a story of lived experience as authority and how using our voices through a social‑purpose lens creates meaningful, practical and lasting change.
Despite experiencing some of the highest rates of violence in Australia, women with disability remain surrounded by systems rarely designed with their safety, autonomy or lived experience at the center of their needs. Destination Accessible is a women‑led, social‑purpose for‑profit organisation providing disability accommodation and support across Geelong and the Bellarine. As a values‑driven organisation that partners with community services, this structure enables DA to be responsive, flexible and nimble, demonstrated through Christine’s leadership in accessible design and disability inclusion.
Our presentation shows how combining disability accommodation and DFV expertise creates a strong platform for system reform. We demonstrate how lived experience leadership has moved from being “consulted” to holding structural authority, shaping governance, service design, risk frameworks and everyday decision‑making.
Christine’s lived experience of paralysis and hearing loss, alongside her policing background, gives her the authority to name realities disability systems often overlook. Melonie’s DFV and social work expertise translates these insights into person‑centred, trauma‑informed and gender‑responsive practice that avoids tokenism, challenges professional dominance and strengthens safety for those most at risk.
Together, we show what genuine co‑design requires, how accountability must operate when lived experience is dismissed, and what systems must relinquish for real power‑sharing to occur.
This is a story of lived experience as authority and how using our voices through a social‑purpose lens creates meaningful, practical and lasting change.
Biography
