Webinar: Working with the knowledge of experts by experience

This webinar is the fourth in a series aimed at supporting the implementation of the ANRA, scheduled to take place throughout 2024–2025.

The Australian National Research Agenda to End Violence against Women and Children (ANRA) 2023–2028 highlights that people with lived experience of domestic, family and sexual violence have valuable expertise to contribute in all stages of the research process. Including them in research encourages a fairer distribution of power and a more nuanced understanding of domestic, family and sexual violence.

Join Lula Dembele, Anna, Ashlee Donohue and Nina as they dive into:

• their research journey
• power dynamics and the perpetuation of power imbalances in research practice
• how we can improve our ways of working with the knowledge of experts by experience.

There will be a Q&A segment at the end of the webinar where attendees can ask the panellists questions.

This event will have live captions, and the webinar will be recorded and uploaded to the ANROWS website and YouTube channel at a later date.

This webinar was originally intended to be held on March 2025. If you have previously registered to this event, you do not need to register again. 

Registrations for the live webinar are closed.

You can register to receive a link to the webinar recording. We expect to share the recording to all registrants by mid-October.

Who is this webinar for?

Anyone involved or interested in domestic, family and sexual violence research, including researchers, lived experience advocates, funders, practitioners, service providers and data custodians.

Event details

Date: Tuesday 30 September
Time: 12:00 pm–1:00 pm (AEST)
Location: Online via Zoom
Cost: Free

For enquiries, email [email protected]

Speaker biographies

Anna, Co-Founder and Director, The Survivor Hub

Anna (she/her) is a co-founder and director of The Survivor Hub. Anna is very lucky to currently live on beautiful Wilyakali Country.

Anna experienced domestic and sexual violence as a young person and endured an isolating court process as a result. Anna was inspired to create TSH to empower connection and community between survivors. Anna believes that healing can only happen with connections and support from other people who just get it.  

Anna is a recent graduate of Bachelor of Arts and Social Work from the University of Sydney. Anna is currently working as a social worker.

Anna was recognised for her work with TSH in 2023, being named Westfield Eastgardens Local Hero. She is an ambassador for National Survivors’ Day and has worked with Full Stop Australia, Bumble, NSW Government and others.

Ashlee Donohue, CEO, Mudgin-Gal Aboriginal Corporation – Women’s Centre

Ashlee Donohue is a proud Aboriginal woman from the Dunghutti Nation. She is an author, educator and passionate advocate for the empowerment of Aboriginal women, with an influence that extends globally.

She has contributed to numerous anti-violence campaigns and anti-racism education resources, helping drive meaningful change. Currently, Ashlee serves as the CEO of Mudgin-Gal Aboriginal Corporation – Women’s Centre, where she continues to champion Aboriginal women and families.

“For me, the importance of Aboriginal women in leadership is to continue carrying the legacy, strength and cultural values of the women who came before us. It’s extremely important to me to continue to light the path for Aboriginal women. Whilst we work to clear generational trauma, we cannot forget our generational strength as the oldest living culture in the world, anything less is a disservice to our matriarchs who gave us more than just wounds.”  

Connect with Ashlee on LinkedIn.

Lula Dembele, General Manager Lived Experience and Co-Production, Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand

Lula Dembele is a passionate advocate for women and victim-survivors of childhood sexual abuse and childhood and adult domestic violence. Combining lived experience and professional expertise, Lula is dedicating her efforts to working on systemic and cultural change to reduce men’s use of violence in intimate, domestic and family settings. Lula has led the call for a greater focus on ending perpetration of domestic, family and sexual violence (DFSV) and been an integral part of undertaking the first study to measure DFSV perpetration in Australia.

In her current role as General Manager Lived Experience and Co-Production at Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand, Lula is leading enterprise-wide change to ensure the experience and needs of women and children are central to research, advocacy and service delivery.

Nina, Family Violence Justice Project Coordinator, Flat Out

Nina lives in Millowl on the lands of the Bunurong people of the eastern Kulin nations. She works for Flat Out who supports folks to get out and stay out of prison. Nina is the Family Violence Justice Project Co-Ordinator and founder of the FIGJAM collective a peer led support and advocacy group of survivors of state violence.

Nina would like us all to reflect on policies that have been created and how these can block out talent from participation, especially when considering the lived experiences of folks who have been criminalised. All members of our communities should have equal access to participating designing and leading research. ‘Nothing about us without us’ means all of us not just a select few.

Nina is proud mother and gardener, loves being bare foot, bathing in the sun and swimming in our water ways. Always was and always will be Aboriginal land.