LISTENING LABS

Listening to lived experience is central to informing the quality of responses. Individually and collectively, we can listen to and be led by victim-survivors’ insights and experiences of violence and abuse. Our response to listening to lived expertise is what makes the difference – socially and systemically. Individually and collectively, we can build on our understanding to inform our responses to domestic, family and sexualised violence.

The Listening Labs have been developed to support peers (set of 3) to explore and share lived experience insights, and insight-informed materials in Insight Exchange. Peer participants can use the opportunity to consider if and how the insights and materials can shape and inform their day-to-day work and responses to violence and abuse.

Peer participants are invited and supported to each dedicate non-consecutive time in the Listening Lab. The peer work is for exploring Insight Exchange with a focus area specific to the Listening Lab. Each Listening Lab takes a different focus, yet the foundations of each draw from the same central content and structured sequence for participation.

Below you can read about the Listening Lab (Suicidality) or follow this link to explore the Listening Lab (Spanish). The Listening Lab (Arabic) will commence after the insights and materials are published in Arabic.

Listening Lab (Suicidality) FY24/25

The Listening Lab (Suicidality) FY24/25 included a structured supported opportunity to: (a) explore Insight Exchange materials and reflect together as peers (b) exchange insights and responses with the Insight Exchange team (c) an opportunity to coordinate a free (donated) virtual session* for guests (colleagues, contacts and peers) up to a group size of 20.

The peers in the FY24/25 Listening Lab (Suicidality) selected to share the insights and materials with the National Suicide Prevention Office, including the coordination and facilitation of two virtual sessions: Creating Possibilities (May) (1 of 2) & Responders Lab (June) (2 of 2).

Participant Reflections

Open the Peer Reflections (adjacent/below) in full screen. These insights are shared from the peer participants in the Listening Lab (Suicidality) in response to the question: “What (if anything) have you valued about participating in this listening lab and what (if anything) has changed for you in your day-to- day thinking, noticing and actions or inactions about safety, dignity and justice?”

Our thanks to peer participants Crystal Paniccia, Stephen Scott and Carrie Lumby.

“It is easy to be pulled into the sense of endless urgency in a field like suicide prevention and systemic reform work generally - where activity and outputs can be mistaken for action and outcomes. There is no room to critically consider the taken-for-granted assumptions that we are working from. What the Listening Lab does is make space for space – not just for an individual to think their own thoughts but for co-reflection with trusted peers where we could say out loud things that would be unsayable inside mainstream suicide prevention contexts because they fundamentally challenge dominant assumptions. The space created in the Listening Lab has been transformative for me. It has made room for me to confront the ways I have been complicit in/helped to promote certain orthodoxies within the sector that have shaped unhelpful and harmful responses to victim-survivors. This has been painful but also liberating because of the possibilities it opens up for doing things differently.” [Listening Lab - Peer Participant 1 of 3]

“Having dedicated time and space to reflect on the insights and materials—both individually and collectively—has been deeply valuable. In a sector where there are many important and critical intersections, it can be difficult to intentionally focus in, even when the motivation is strong. The Listening Lab creates an environment where this kind of reflection and focus is not only possible but prioritised. For me, in my work and life, I am working towards a more conscious consideration, moving from awareness to action and understanding how responses come in many ways and forms, all of them matter.” [Listening Lab - Peer Participant 2 of 3]

“Being involved in the Listening Lab has been both challenging and liberating. I had often reflected on the need for activity at the junction between suicide prevention and domestic, family and sexualised violence, realising this was a vexed and problematic intersection that required significant space to effectively think through and discuss its implications. The Listening Lab provided that space, where the various dilemmas arising when these two issues are linked could be carefully explored over sufficiently ample time. In my own work in lived experience participation, I have taken a fresh perspective. I am considering perhaps for the first time how to listen to people who have been silenced or have needed to be silent and am reassessing many conventions I have learnt in the suicide prevention field regarding safety, readiness to participate, building capacity and ‘speaking up’. I look forward to continuing to reorient my own professional practice and my personal commitment to justice and dignity from the insights I’ve gained due to being part of this Listening Lab.” [Listening Lab - Peer Participant 3 of 3]

In parallel to the work of the peers in the Listening Lab (Suicidality) FY24/25 the Insight Exchange team has been reflecting on the question:

‘What are participants (who share lived experience with Insight Exchange) already telling us (or silent about) re suicidality in their insights?’

In response to this question and reflection, we have collated a new reflection booklet called 'Quiet Questions. Silenced Thoughts.' released in July 2025.

This booklet is not for everyone but may be really important to someone. Our thanks to each person who shared lived experience insights.

Listening Lab (Suicidality) FY25/26

Note: The Listening Lab (Suicidality) commenced in FY24/25 and is extended into FY25/26.

The Listening Lab (Suicidality) FY25/26 includes a structured supported opportunity to: (a) explore Insight Exchange materials and reflect together as peers (b) exchange insights and responses with the Insight Exchange team (c) an opportunity to coordinate ways to share Insight Exchange insights and materials within the responding ecosystem.

The focus areas for the Listening Lab peers align to the five areas used to organise the insights and materials in the Insight Exchange website – Listening, Exploring, Responding, Learning, Participating.

Our thanks to peer participants Crystal Paniccia, Stephen Scott and Carrie Lumby.

Discussion Paper: Intersections between suicide prevention and domestic and family violence: the urgent need for careful responses.

A discussion paper collated by peers in the Insight Exchange Listening Lab on Suicidality 2025-26.

This discussion paper aims to orientate a broader network of colleagues to the reflections emerging from the Listening Lab on suicidality.

The intersection between suicide prevention and domestic and family violence is complex but is gaining greater attention, culminating most recently in the announcement of a national parliamentary inquiry into domestic and family violence related suicides.

Examples of activities to date and planned for the 2025-26 Listening Lab

The following activities are planned or in progress as part of the Listening Lab:

Continued peer reflection through iterative weekly discussions grounded in ongoing listening and responding to lived experience insights
Research and policy analysis including the discussion paper (above) as well as other articles for potential submission to relevant publications
Sharing of Insight Exchange insights and materials to relevant sites in the suicide prevention field, especially those staffed by peer workers or of a local community-based nature
Small group or individual reflection and feedback sessions with invited peers including suicide prevention peer workers, mental health and suicide prevention leaders and social innovation/community engagement practitioners
Proposed conference workshop submitted to the National Suicide Prevention Conference 2026
Submission to the current House Standing Committee inquiry (due 30/1/26)
Coordinated LinkedIn posts to draw greater attention to the intersections between domestic and family violence and suicide including the current Listening Lab

Listening Lab Focus Suicidality

LISTENING LABS