Standard 2 of the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards focuses on partnering with consumers, families and carers to improve the safety, quality and experience of care.

At Northern Health, consumer representatives play a vital role in shaping inclusive, accessible and responsive services through their lived experience.

One such contributor is Jane Sparklan, a consumer representative on the Disability Working Group (DWG).

Jane was diagnosed with a degenerative retinal dystrophy at the age of 19 and became legally blind by her mid‑20s. Despite this, she completed a Master’s thesis in pure philosophy and went on to spend more than a year backpacking around the world, an experience she describes as deeply educative.

Over the years, Jane has balanced caring responsibilities, running her own business in Lorne (WAITOGO Craft), and raising two children. Now that her children are adults, she remains creatively and community focused. Jane participates in a Vision Australia woodwork program, creates papier‑mâché sculpture from home, enjoys swimming and is an avid listener of audiobooks.

Jane has long volunteered within community gardens and now with Northern Health, where she brings her lived experience to the DWG to help improve hospital interactions for people living with disability, with a strong focus on inclusion and accessibility.

“I came to be involved as a volunteer with Northern Health during the early days of COVID. I presented to the initial fever clinic as a pedestrian and was directed to the drive-through testing facility, then told to return to the fever clinic. With only one door functioning as both entrance and exit, I phoned the hospital with a complaint. My feedback was received positively and viewed as constructive and valuable. I was invited to join the consumer team, which made me feel validated and empowered,” shared Jane.

“I continue to feel empowered by my role on the Disability Working Group. As a person living with disability, this is incredibly important. As a patient of Northern Health, I have found the professionalism and efficiency of the organisation to be outstanding. The strong sense of familial community, the warmth of staff and the evident high morale in such a large organisation are extraordinary.”

Jane describes feeling valued in her role and acknowledges she too has gained personally from her involvement, particularly through the sense of connection and community that Northern Health manages to retain.

Her contribution highlights the importance of consumer partnership in creating health services that are inclusive, respectful and shaped by lived experience.

“We are fortunate to have Jane partner with us,” says Clare McCarthy, Director Quality Safety and Patient Experience. “Jane’s lived experience sharpens how we listen, challenges our assumptions and helps us design care that is genuinely inclusive. This is what partnering with consumers should look like.”

“As a firm believer in collective wisdom, and the human element, I’m truly enjoying my new role — and Jane is a wonderful part of that journey. I’ll always cherish our first interaction while waiting for a taxi; she made an impact on me right from the start. Our conversations consistently shift my perspective, reminding me that sometimes it is through our disabilities that we see most clearly, and how, at times, our greatest ability can inadvertently become our disability. I truly value the profound insight she shares,” says Navneet Gill, Consumer Participation Coordinator, Northern Health.

Pictured in featured image (L-R): Navneet Gill, Consumer Participation Coordinator and Jane Sparklan, Consumer Representative.