The Lived Experience Advisory Group, or ‘LEAG’, is a group of people from all across NT who have lived experience of homelessness, using what they have experienced to make systems better.
The LEAG is lead and supported by YWCA Australia and Anglicare NT, working as partners to ensure a safe, inclusive and empowering space for all participants.
People who have actually been homeless have expert knowledge about homelessness systems, services and pathways. By putting that lived experience in the centre of plans for improvement, LEAG contributes to more meaningful, ongoing change across the Northern Territory’s homelessness response.
Begun as part of the Northern Territory Homelessness Strategy 2025–2030, the LEAG is key to how the strategy starts and continues being used.
LEAG will guide homelessness services, systems and policies by giving advice to the Strategic Advisory Group (or SAG) that includes NT Government workers in health, justice, housing and homelessness, families and communities and education as well as non-Government workers from homelessness and other not-for-profit organisations.
The LEAG is for adults living in the Northern Territory who have personal lived experience of homelessness and who are interested in using their knowledge to help make change for the better.
The group will be as strong and diverse as the communities across the Territory are, and will seek to include:
The LEAG runs for at least 12 months, with members meeting every second month online and with one face-to-face gathering in the year, where travel and associated costs are covered. For more information read the LEAG Member Information Guide.
The group will:
Give Advice
Support Community Voices
Work With Others
If you are interested in joining the Lived Experience Advisory Group, please read the LEAG Member Information Guide for detailed information or the Frequently Asked Questions below. If you still have questions please call or text Coordintators Dannii (YWCA – 0425 319 604) or Naomi (Anglicare NT – 0407 134 428).
We are taking details from people who would like to join between 9 July to 21 August 2026. If you would like to join the LEAG, you can:
Lived experience means knowing something because you have been through it yourself. In this context, it means personal experience of homelessness, housing stress, or housing insecurity — and that experience is important because it helps services and systems understand what people really need.
Someone who is homeless has no suitable accommodation alternatives and their current living arrangement is a dwelling that is inadequate, has no tenure or if their tenure is short and not extendable or does not allow them to have control of and access to space for social relations. (Australian Bureau of Statistics definition)
A person is experiencing homelessness when they do not have a safe, stable or suitable place to live. This can include staying somewhere temporary, overcrowded or unsafe, or living in a place where they do not have control over their own space.
Yes, LEAG members will be paid for their time. See more about pay rates and payment methods in the LEAG Member Information Guide.
Once the LEAG has formed, we will work together to figure out the best meeting schedule for the individuals in the group. We predict that the group will meet once every 2 months online, and 1-2 times per year in person, with all travel costs covered.
LEAG members must be over 18 to participate.
Young people and children’s experiences of homelessness in the NT are very important perspectives to capture. We will hear these voices with the help of community organisations who work with children and young people to make sure that everyone is kept safe.