Equipped and Empowered: Creating Psychologically Safe Spaces for Parent and Carer Leadership in Childhood Deafness Research: Reflections from the Australasian Newborn Hearing Screening Conference.

Families are often invited to take part in child health research, but being invited is not always enough to make involvement meaningful. This article was written by parent and carer co-researchers from the Australian Childhood Deafness Research Community Advisory Group, together with members of the ANCHOR research team. We reflect on what helped us feel safe, prepared and valued when contributing to childhood deafness research. We focus on our involvement in the 2025 Australasian Newborn Hearing Screening Conference, where parent and carer contributors took part as presenters, session chairs, workshop contributors and collaborators. We describe how involvement can move beyond simply attending or being consulted when families are supported to belong, learn, contribute and challenge ideas. For parents and carers of children who are deaf or hard of hearing, research involvement can be powerful, but it can also feel personal and emotionally demanding. We are often speaking from family experiences, hopes for our children and connections with our communities. This means good involvement needs more than goodwill. It needs access, preparation, trust, funding, flexibility, clear roles and safe ways to raise concerns. Our experience shows that when families are properly equipped and supported, research can become more relevant, respectful and useful. It becomes not just about families, but with families and for families.