Listening Together: the experiences of young people with disability and young carers of institutional and policy listening

Despite being encouraged to ‘speak up’ about their needs and preferences, young people with disability and young carers continue to face barriers in being heard by their schools, support services and the government.

This project explores how young people with disability and young carers understand listening, how they define what it means to be heard, and whether they feel listened to by the organisations and institutions that impact their lives.

Engaging with young people with disability and young carers through a co-design process, the project will:

1. Explore how young people understand and define listening

2. Assess the extent to which young people with disability and young carers feel heard by the organisations and services they interact with

3. Learn from young people about how services and organisations can listen better.

The project draws on theory about the politics of listening, which highlights the significance of listening as well as voice to meaningful communication and draws attention to the way policies and rules, organisational cultures and norms, and interpersonal interactions within service environments mediate and constrain opportunities for people to be heard.

Get involved

We are looking for up to 10 young people with disability and young carers to participate in a co-design working group to help us design and implement this project.

Members of the co-design group will meet for two hours every three months and will be paid for their time. There may be extra meetings if needed.

At the meetings, group members will shape the development, design, and implementation of the next stages of this research project. You do not need experience or expertise in conducting research. Rather, members will be participating as experts of their experience regarding caring and/or having a disability.

You can join the group if you:

• Are aged 15 – 29 years old

• Live in the Australian Capital Territory or surrounding areas of New South Wales

• Identify as a person with disability and/or as a person with a caring role for a family member, partner or friend with disability, mental illness, or a chronic health condition, including frail older age.

To ask a question, receive more information or register your interest, please email Laura Davy at Laura.Davy@anu.edu.au, Molly Saunders at Molly.Saunders@anu.edu.au, or phone us using the numbers listed on our ANU profile page.