SMICS Lived Experience Advisor: Help shape the future of cancer care in southern Melbourne
The Southern Melbourne Integrated Cancer Service (SMICS) invites expressions of interest from individuals with lived experience of cancer, or those who have cared for someone with cancer (also known as consumers), to help guide future improvements in cancer care across the southern Melbourne region.
SMICS welcomes interest from anyone who has received care or cared for someone receiving care at Bayside Health’s Alfred and Peninsula care groups, Monash Health or Cabrini Health.
About the role of Lived Experience Advisors
Lived Experience Advisors play an important role at SMICS by sharing valuable insights into the needs and challenges faced by patients, carers and families.
Advisors may participate in meetings, working groups or focus groups, and provide feedback on patient‑facing resources, surveys and project materials.
By sharing their experiences from treatment through to survivorship, people with lived experience help identify what is working well in cancer services and where improvements are needed.
If you are willing to share your lived experience, you can help us better understand and improve cancer services.
What it’s like to be a Lived Experience Advisor at SMICS
Keep reading to hear from our current Lived Experience Advisors, Vivienne Interrigi, Debbie Packham and Jane Williams, as they share what it’s like to be part of SMICS and contribute to our program of work.
SMICS Lived Experience Advisors Debbie Packaham and Vivienne Interrigi at the 2025 SMICS Annual Forum.
Vivienne Interrigi – SMICS Lived Experience Advisor
Being part of SMICS has been deeply meaningful. Personally, it’s about giving back. Cancer can feel incredibly isolating, but working with SMICS has allowed me to transform that experience into something constructive. I’m truly grateful for the opportunities SMICS has provided—not just to me, but to all consumers over the years—to have a voice in improving patient navigation through the cancer care system. The collaboration, empathy, and unwavering commitment to enhancing cancer services have made me feel not just heard, but genuinely valued. Professionally, this journey has shaped how I articulate what matters most in my work. It’s taught me to be precise and intentional, while always leading with compassion and empathy. I’m thankful for the opportunity to continue learning and growing—as a SMICS consumer, as a Monash Health consumer, as Chair of the Community Advisory Committee (CAC), and as a member of the Victorian Cancer Advisory Committee (VCAC). One moment that stands out was contributing to the 2024–2025 SMICS Funding Program. Sharing my lived experience as a patient to support the grants process was incredibly powerful. It gave me hope—hope in the innovative, impactful projects being developed for cancer patients, and hope that one day, cancer will no longer steal our lives or the precious time we have with our loved ones. I am deeply grateful for SMICS—for the care, the opportunity, and most of all, the vision of a cancer-free world.
Debbie Packham – SMICS Lived Experience Advisor
I have loved being able to have an input, via SMICS, to improving cancer care, and the integration of services, for people needing cancer treatments. I have particularly enjoyed being involved with the SMICS grant program, as it gave me the opportunity to appreciate the caring staff who want to make cancer treatment better and easier. I feel that all the SMICS projects and working groups that I have been involved with, have listened and considered my thoughts and ideas. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016, which required chemotherapy for 6 months, 2 lots of surgery, and radiation therapy. Whilst my treatment went smoothly, assisted by the amazing staff at Monash Moorabbin Hospital, not everyone has the same experience that I did. My goal with all my interactions with SMICS and Monash Health is to hopefully make the treatment path smoother, better, and easier for others now and in the future.
Jane Williams – SMICS Lived Experience Advisor
Cancer treatment and care is often a complex, lengthy experience involving several clinical specialties. Coordination of this is crucial—not only because it helps patients and families manage through the experience, but because outcomes are likely to be enhanced through carefully structured systems of care. During the many years I have been involved in SMICS as a Consumer Advisor, one of the areas I have been particularly impressed by is the focus on facilitating treatment and care coordination. It is key to linking evidence, clinical practice, and patient experience.
