Ensure your program is led by peers who are nominated by peers

Potential peer supporters should be nominated by the young people who you have defined as the target audience of your peer support activity.

Ideally, LDATs should accept peer nominations in the preferred format of young people, whether that be verbal nominations to LDAT staff and volunteers, or nominations submitted in writing (e.g. via email) or over the phone. Flexibility is key.

Choosing peer supporters

LDATs should choose peer supporters based on clear criteria, including:

• recommendations by peers, and possibly self-nomination
• representative of the peer support program target audience (note: where a team of peer supporters is being selected, aim for broad representation of all social groups).

Peer supporters should demonstrate the following attributes and skills:

• enthusiastic
• comfortable building relationships
• good listener
• reflective and open to learning
• a genuine desire to ‘give back’
• dependable
• flexible
• ability to influence others and encourage others to establish and achieve goals
• empathy toward the experiences and ideas of others²²
• commitment to actively participation in the program and willingness to abide by the Code of Conduct and program policies and procedures.