Collaborate to Connect
🚀 Bringing Co-Design to Life in Your Organisation
Training tailored for organisations working with community members and people with psychosocial disabilities.
Collaborate to Connect (C2C) is your launchpad into authentic co-design.
This training equips organisations with the skills, confidence, and tools
to engage communities in shaping the programs, services, and policies that affect them.
Co-design isn’t just about consultation—it’s about working together from start to finish
to create solutions that are inclusive, impactful, and led by lived experience.
The future is co-designed. Are you ready to take off?
C2C Training
Practical and skills-based training program designed for organisations working with community members and people with lived expertise.
- 🔸 Free and fully funded training
- 🔸 Full day and half-day options available
- 🔸 Customised mentoring offered
Co-Design 101
Self-paced online short course for foundational knowledge and fundamentals of co-design.
- 🔹 For anyone interested in co-design
- 🔹 Self-paced (30 mins – 1 hour)
- 🔹 Recommended completion before C2C training
🌟 Explore New Frontiers of Collaboration
The most valuable resource in innovation isn’t technology—it’s human experience.
Like a starship navigating uncharted territory, truly inclusive innovation relies on diverse perspectives.
Co-design powered by lived expertise is the fuel that propels us toward more connected, sustainable communities.
Lived experience is our compass. It guides us to solutions that are:
- 💡 Impactful
- 🌱 Inclusive
- 🛡️ Psychologically safe
Co-design ensures that mental health isn’t a barrier—it’s a strength in building thriving communities.
✨ What is Co-Design?
Co-design is a collaborative approach where organisations and communities
design solutions together. Rather than creating services and asking for feedback later,
co-design ensures that lived experience is embedded from the beginning.
Through C2C, we teach organisations how to engage with communities and design programs, services, and initiatives that are:
- ✅ Inclusive – Ensuring all voices are heard and valued
- ✅ Person-Centred – Designed with real needs at the core
- ✅ Effective – Solutions that work for the people they serve
- ✅ Accessible – Removing barriers to participation
- ✅ Sustainable – Long-lasting, meaningful change
Co-design isn’t just a method—it’s a mindset shift. Ready to transform how your organisation collaborates?
📖 Co-Design & Mental Health: A Rapid Review
This Rapid Review explores how organisations in Australia apply
co-design when working with people with lived experience of mental health challenges.
🔍 Key insights include:
- ✔️ Best practices in co-designing mental health initiatives
- ✔️ How organisations embed lived experience in decision-making
- ✔️ Challenges & opportunities in implementing co-design
This research was commissioned by Consumers of Mental Health WA (CoMHWA) and funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
For Organisations and Employees
This training is for organisations, service providers, policy & program designers, peer workers & lived experience leaders, and government & nonprofit teams.
This training fills a key gap by helping organisations authentically engage with people with lived experience, leading to better services and stronger community trust.
It’s completely free! Thanks to funding from the Australian Government Department of Social Services, this training is available at no cost to organisations until June 2026.
You’ll learn practical strategies to embed co-design in your work, improving inclusivity, innovation, and meaningful engagement.
We offer flexible options: half-day, full-day, and online modules to suit different schedules.
No experience is required—this training is beginner-friendly while also helping those looking to refine their approach.
While individuals can join, having multiple team members participate helps with applying co-design across your organisation.
Yes! The training provides practical steps to start embedding co-design, no matter your organisation’s current capacity.
Sessions run in-person and online throughout the year—check our calendar for upcoming dates OR enquire here.
We provide case studies and key talking points to show how co-design improves outcomes and reduces risks.
For Consumers and Community Members
Co-design is a collaborative process where people with lived experience help shape services, policies, and programs, making them more relevant and effective.
It gives organisations the tools and knowledge to engage meaningfully, ensuring lived experience shapes decisions in a respectful way.
Yes! A key focus is on creating safe, inclusive, and collaborative spaces where lived experience is valued.
Participation is always voluntary. This training helps organisations create opportunities, but it’s your choice to get involved.
Organisations that invest in this training are actively working to strengthen engagement with people with lived experience.
This training helps organisations build confidence and capability to engage meaningfully and sustainably.
Yes! The training covers how to reduce barriers, include diverse voices, and create safe spaces for collaboration.
Share information about the training and explain how co-design leads to better services and stronger partnerships.
Many organisations are seeking to engage with lived experience voices—this training helps them build the right foundation for those partnerships.
For further information on this project, please contact Bridget Clarke, Project Manager via
bclarke@comhwa.org.au
This project is generously funded by the Department of Social Services.
