The people who access services have valuable insights that can help shape how those services are designed and delivered.
At the HumanAbility National Forum 2025, workforce leader and former HumanAbility Board member Brian Newman reflected on the importance of listening to lived experience, strengthening collaboration and ensuring workforce decisions reflect the needs of the people they ultimately support.
Mr Newman highlighted the value of HumanAbility's tripartite approach, which brings together employers, unions and government to address shared workforce challenges.
While the sectors HumanAbility represents operate in different settings and have distinct workforce needs, they share a focus on supporting people to live full and healthy lives. This creates opportunities to learn from one another and work together on common challenges.
Reflecting on discussions at the Forum, Mr Newman described lived experience as “talking to the people who use services to get them to inform the design and the practice of those services”.
In children's education and care, this means considering how children's experiences and perspectives can inform the environments, services and care provided to them.
Mr Newman emphasised that decisions should be made “first and foremost with the best interests of children at their heart”.
This principle highlights the connection between workforce development, the quality of services and the outcomes experienced by children.
Mr Newman also reflected on the importance of collaboration between employers, unions, training providers and Jobs and Skills Councils in developing a skilled and capable workforce.
He highlighted the need to regularly review training package content, monitor the quality of training delivery and ensure training providers are actively involved in workforce discussions.
Providing educators with appropriate supporting resources was another important consideration, helping them deliver the knowledge and skills required for quality practice.
These reflections reinforce the value of bringing different perspectives together to inform workforce planning and training, while keeping the people who use services at the centre of decisions.
Continue the conversation at the HumanAbility National Forum 2026
On 11 November, the HumanAbility National Forum returns with the theme Connecting for Impact.
Bringing together leaders from industry, government, unions, education and the community, this year's Forum will explore how collaboration can help address shared workforce challenges and support more people to participate in skills, training and employment.
Register for the HumanAbility National Forum 2026
