Peer Support – Empowering Others, Strengthening Teams
Peer Support – Empowering Others, Strengthening Teams
- State or territory TAS, VIC, WA, ACT, NSW, NT, QLD, SA
- Type of program Online, Workshop
- Sector relevance Residential aged care, Home and community care, Retirement living and seniors housing
- Topic relevance Workforce relations, Leadership and management, Customer service, Mentoring and coaching
Workshop overview
Peer Support – Empowering Others, Strengthening Teams is designed to uplift the leadership capability of those who are assigned a peer support role, often known as a ‘buddy’. The shift in terminology from buddy to peer support is to engender a collective responsibility as peers to support each other while still assigning an individual to act in the lead role.
Implementing a Peer Support program is an investment into your workforce, as employees who feel valued and supported are more likely to remain in their roles, leading to improved workforce retention rates. It is particularly important when onboarding new employees or trainees to reduce stress which can occur when commencing a new job or undertaking a new role within an organisation.
This workshop offers peer support strategies for effective communication, giving and receiving feedback and a greater understanding of how as individuals we learn and receive information.
It explores the expectations of the peer support role and guides participants with practical skills and knowledge to develop effective and productive peer support relationships.
Who should attend?
This workshop is designed for team leaders and HR leaders, as well as current, prospective, or aspiring peer supporters.
The outcomes are:
- understand the roles, responsibilities and boundaries of being a workplace peer
- recognise how individual learning preferences can be utilised to advance knowledge and develop confidence in task applications
- understand how effective communication builds relationships of trust and respect
- increase your ability to manage difficult situations with confidence, clarity and calmness
- learn how to provide effective feedback
- gain clarity of when and how to escalate matters of concern.
Date: 19 August 2026
Time: 10.30am-12.30pm AEST
Ageing Australia member price
1-2 people: $299 inc. GST each
3-10 people: $269.10 inc. GST each
Non-member price:
$398.70 incl. GST each
Note – Registration is one ticket per participant and all participants are required to access training on individual devices.
For group bookings of 11 or greater please contact the Learning and Professional Development team at .
Who is facilitating?
Dorothy Dowling
Dorothy has a strong background in training development and delivery for the aged care sector, working with a range of providers across service areas. Experienced in both virtual and face-to-face modalities, she designs and facilitates practical, engaging training that supports compliance, continuous improvement, and alignment with the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards.
A key focus of her work is enabling leaders and managers to confidently use feedback and complaints as opportunities to strengthen services, build capability, and improve outcomes for older people.
Known for her collaborative, people-centred approach, Dorothy translates real-world practice into meaningful learning experiences that are relevant, accessible, and easy to apply in day-to-day roles.
Testimonial
“As the organisation I work with is looking to implement a traineeship program, we felt it was important to ensure we set the trainees up for success by having a peer support network. The Program captures the essence of what a peer support program is and is not and offers tips on what to implement to ensure success for both the learner and the ‘buddy’. I enjoyed the session and found the content useful for our situation.”
“Very clear and knowledgeable Facilitator. Learned a lot of handy tips and will use what I’ve learned and pass it in to others.”
“This is an excellent course, the knowledge will be very useful in my job.”
“The session was informative and encouraging to put the training in place in my work environment.”
“The session encouraged the discussion of different points of view which allowed you to look at things from others points of view.”
“This session was beneficial to my job. It will help me relate to people in new and useful ways.
I like the idea that this has given me a different approach when communicating with my peers and has enhanced my abilities to handle situations that may occur in the future. The trainer was knowledgeable and helpful. This training was exactly what I needed to refresh my skills. Highly recommended.”
Booking terms and conditions
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Ageing Australia’s Privacy Policy
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Utilising the contact details provided to Ageing Australia from time to time, the learning and professional development team will send out information on upcoming training opportunities in a direct electronic message. If you do not wish to receive this information and prefer to ‘opt out’ – email and we will remove you from our waiting lists and email communications database.
Cancellations, refunds, substitutions and transfers
Ageing Australia’s learning and professional development (L&PD) products are delivered subject to sufficient registrations, as stipulated by available tickets against each event, and tickets can be purchased directly from the what’s on page.
Training session viability of each advertised session is assessed prior to the scheduled date of delivery, when a decision is made regarding continuation or cancellation. When a training session is cancelled due to insufficient numbers or circumstances outside of the control of Ageing Australia, a full refund will be paid, directly to the customer who has made the initial purchase.
A full refund is also available if a participant withdraws from a training session, 14 or more days prior to the session being delivered, on the condition, that the customer has contacted , to inform regarding their intention to withdraw. No refunds or transfers will be considered without notification prior to the commencement of a training session. Late notifications will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
An organisation may choose to substitute a participant of a previously paid session, by emailing , 24 hours prior to the commencement of the training session. Full details of the substituted participant must be provided.
Payment terms
It is a condition of registration that participants pay full payment at the time of booking via credit card or by invoicing by prior arrangement. All payments must be finalised prior to commencement. Registrants who have outstanding payments will not be able to participate. Upon registration, a tax invoice will be emailed to the person making the booking.
Aligns to the following strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards
- Standard 2 - The organisation
- 2.8 Workforce planning
- 2.8 Workforce planning
