People with Lived Experience should lead and shape research from the beginning. The workbook structures this through 17 defined actions across seven research stages — from identifying the research question and forming the team, through to dissemination and impact evaluation. This positions Lived Experience contribution as a core methodological commitment, not an add-on, and includes tools to track and evaluate the depth of that integration throughout the project.

Research teams must explicitly plan how power is shared and decisions are made, accounting for historical and current power imbalances related to Lived Experience, professional roles, gender, seniority, First Nations identity, cultural and language diversity, and disability. The workbook provides structured exercises and the Lived Experience Action Log to make these processes transparent and traceable, with accountability mechanisms built into governance and meeting processes.

The workbook includes a dedicated action to create a mental health and wellbeing plan for the whole research team — not only for research participants. This encompasses psychological safety, mental health supports, Lived Experience-specific peer support, cultural integrity practices, and accessibility and practical supports. This reflects the understanding that researchers with Lived Experience may require tailored support when engaging with sensitive or personally resonant material.

Every stage of the research life cycle requires active consideration of intersectionality — including First Nations perspectives, cultural and linguistic diversity, neurodiversity, and disability. The workbook expects research teams to explicitly map these perspectives, include relevant expertise on their teams, and plan for accessibility and cultural integrity across all project activities and communications.

The appendix reporting guidelines require researchers to demonstrate — across the title, abstract, methodology, results and conclusions of their research outputs — how people with Lived Experience were engaged as leaders throughout the project. This positions Lived Experience-centred reporting as an integral quality standard alongside traditional methodological rigour, applicable to published papers, reports and grant applications.

The workbook includes explicit planning for how research findings will be shared with participants, communities (including First Nations and intersectional communities), peer workers and front-line staff, and the broader mental health sector. Dissemination is treated as a Lived Experience responsibility, with plain language, open access publication, and multimedia and creative outputs identified as important means of sharing knowledge in ways that are meaningful and accessible to those most affected.