Building trust in policy: Cancer Council Australia’s lessons on real-world integration of community and lived experiences

The involvement of people with lived experience is essential to the development of policies, programs and research that reflect the needs and priorities of the communities they serve. Although this principle is well established, achieving meaningful community engagement in practice remains challenging. Drawing on experiences at Cancer Council Australia, we describe key successes and learnings in embedding lived experience within policy development processes, using the 'Empowerment Gradient' as a guiding framework for the analysis. Tailored engagement approaches, clear communication, multiple feedback pathways and remuneration for people's time supported deeper involvement consistent with co-production. However, system-level constraints, including limited time, resources and organisational capacity, continue to limit opportunities for community control, highlighting the need for sustained leadership and structural investment. Our reflections reinforce international guidance emphasising that different engagement approaches are needed for different contexts and levels of sensitivity. We argue that genuine, respectful and well-supported involvement of people with lived experiences must be prioritised across the health system, and we offer insights to support researchers, policymakers and program managers seeking to strengthen the safety, legitimacy and impact of lived experience engagement in their work.