Recovery Camp

Recovery Camp Established in 2013, Recovery Camp is an innovative, evidence-based and award-winning program with impact. Recovery Camp is such an alternative.

Mental Health Recovery Through Therapeutic Recreation | Lived Experience Education | Registered NDIS Provider

Recovery Camp offers a transformative, evidence-based program making a significant impact on mental health and mental health education Recovery Camp is:
• a professional experience placement for university students enrolled in health-based disciplines, contributing to workforce development and continuing professional enhancement.
• a recovery-focused experience for people living with a mental illness.
• an opportunity for carer respite. Many health professional programmes in Australia require students to attend professional experience placements. There is a need for more experiences that go beyond traditional clinical placement programs, are cost-effective and meet curriculum requirements. Recovery Camp brings together people with a lived experience of mental illness, health students and professionals to participate in an Australian innovation. Attendees engage in a structured facilitated program underpinned by the principles of therapeutic recreation. Empirical research undertaken at Recovery Camp indicates that outdoor recreation activities are the catalyst to improve significant outcomes. For consumers, participation at Recovery Camp:
• builds resilience,
• increases confidence and self-determination, and
• contributes to mental health recovery. For health students, attendance at Recovery Camp:
• increases clinical confidence and competence, and
• reduces stigma towards people with mental illness. Recovery Camps were established in 2013 and are available to organisations seeking innovative, evidence-based professional experience placement opportunities for their health students, and organisations who are interested in providing a recovery-focused, strengths-based experience for those with a lived experience of mental illness. Websites:

http://www.recoverycamp.com.au/


Contact:

recoverycamp@uow.edu.au

We’re excited to have our programs up and running for 2026! 🌿Last week, we welcomed students from the University of Woll...
20/01/2026

We’re excited to have our programs up and running for 2026! 🌿

Last week, we welcomed students from the University of Wollongong and Charles Darwin University for a five day immersive mental health clinical placement experience, alongside our incredible lived experience experts – a dual impact therapeutic recreation program designed to empower individuals to achieve personal recovery goals and support student learning.

The beautiful grounds of Wombaroo in the Southern Highlands of NSW, run by the folks at The Great Aussie Bush Camp, provided a peaceful and healing environment for everyone involved. We were even joined by some furry visitors, with kangaroos and wombats keeping us company throughout the week.

Students engaged in rich experiential learning alongside one another, guided by our experienced registered nurse facilitators and our lived experience experts. Every activity and interaction created opportunities for growth, understanding, connection and joy. Through meaningful conversations and expert-led debriefs, our experts helped shape future professional practice. Recovery Camp continues to bridge the gap between textbook learning and real-world mental health care, with lived experience at the heart of it all.

For some of our experts, this was their very first Recovery Camp program, and we were so excited to welcome them! Our more seasoned experts generously mentored and supported them, remembering how important that encouragement can be when trying something new. It was wonderful to see our new experts thrive. As always, many activities across the week were led by our experts, including craft sessions, the talent show and trivia night – highlighting the importance of empowerment in personal mental health recovery.

We would like to thank our external activity facilitators - Steve from The Jade Health Group, who led the functional movement session, and Greg Dimmock, who brought the whole group together for a Bush Dance. Both sessions created laughter, music, movement and moments of joyful connection.

2026 is shaping up to be a big year, with new venues and exciting opportunities ahead 💚

Interested in joining us on our next program?
📅 April 13–17, 2026 – Borambola, NSW
📅 May 2026
📅 July 2026
📅 September 21 –25, 2026 – Warrawee (Joyner, QLD)
📅 October 2026
📅 December 2026

Spots are limited - reach out to learn more or get involved:
📞 (02) 8488 0802
📧 hi@recoverycamp.com.au

Our very own Founder and Director Lorna Moxham is a finalist in Figtree Grove's Aussie Spirit Award.Want to vote for Lor...
19/01/2026

Our very own Founder and Director Lorna Moxham is a finalist in Figtree Grove's Aussie Spirit Award.

Want to vote for Lorna?

Follow the directions in the below post 💙
Hurry, voting closes 5pm this Thursday, 22 January.

09/01/2026

Meet Sussy, Recovery Camp’s 2000th Student! 💚

We sat down with Sussy during her recent experience at Recovery Camp's clinical placement to discover what it’s like to be part of our evidence-based mental health program, and how Recovery Camp helps students build confidence, reduce stigma and make a real impact in mental health care.

Visit our YouTube channel for the full video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifUP2-q1bTw&t=22s

09/01/2026

Meet Keegan, Recovery Camp’s 1500th Lived Experience Expert! 💚

We sat down with Keegan during a recent program to discover what it’s like to be part of our evidence-based program and how Recovery Camp contributes to her mental health recovery.

Visit our YouTube channel for the full video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BywWKNN01nA

We're taking a short break 💚 The Recovery Camp office will be closed from Wednesday 24th December 2025 until 1st January...
23/12/2025

We're taking a short break 💚

The Recovery Camp office will be closed from Wednesday 24th December 2025 until 1st January 2026, reopening on Friday 2nd January.

If you require support during this time, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 for mental health support or 000 in an emergency.

Recovery Camp wishes everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday season.

We were lucky enough to celebrate two milestones on the same program, with our 2000th student AND 1500th expert at our D...
22/12/2025

We were lucky enough to celebrate two milestones on the same program, with our 2000th student AND 1500th expert at our December program last week.

✨ Meet Keegan - our 1500th Lived Experience Expert! ✨

Keegan has joined a community of 1500 people with lived experience who have taken part in Recovery Camp’s 5-day therapeutic recreation program, contributing to their own recovery while helping educate future health professionals.

We sat down with Keegan to hear firsthand about her experience at Recovery Camp 💚

🎥 Full video coming soon – stay tuned to hear Keegan’s story.

✨ Meet Sussy - our 2000th Student! ✨ Sussy has joined the cohort of 2000 health students who have immersed themselves in...
22/12/2025

✨ Meet Sussy - our 2000th Student! ✨

Sussy has joined the cohort of 2000 health students who have immersed themselves in Recovery Camp's 5-day evidence-based placement experience that builds mental health knowledge, reduces stigma and develops their confidence to work collaboratively with those with lived experience.

We sat down with Sussy to hear firsthand about her Recovery Camp placement experience.

🎥 Full video coming soon - stay tuned to hear Sussy's story.

🎁Recovery Camp December 2025 Program – unwrapped! 🎁 Our final program of the year was full of connection, learning and f...
17/12/2025

🎁Recovery Camp December 2025 Program – unwrapped! 🎁

Our final program of the year was full of connection, learning and festive cheer!

The week kicked off with our Christmas-themed newspaper catwalk, where everyone showed off their creativity and holiday spirit. Later in the week we continued the festive spirit by coming together for a delicious roast dinner, celebrating friendship and community. 💚

We were delighted to welcome visitors from Japan to our program, including four nursing students from Kanazawa University, guided by Koji, Professor of Mental Health. It was a wonderful opportunity to share knowledge, learn from one another and strengthen international connections in mental health education.

Recovery Camp took part in ‘Heart Sense’, which is a nurse-led research project aimed at increasing education around blood pressure for student nurses and consumers. The project is led by Dr Catherine Stephen from the University of Wollongong’s (UOW) School of Nursing. 🌿

We said a heartfelt farewell to the Y Yarramundi staff, celebrating all they have done to support Recovery Camp over the years, as the venue prepares for renovations in 2026.

✨A huge thank you to everyone who joined us on a Recovery Camp program in 2025.✨

From all of us at Recovery Camp, we hope we can make 2026 another year of meaningful impact, supporting experts by lived experience, empowering both consumers and health students in their education and mental health, and bolstering the future mental health workforce.

Interested in joining us in 2026?

📍January 12–16, 2026 – Wombaroo, NSW
📍April 13–17, 2026 – Borambola, NSW
📍May 11-15, 2026 – NSW (specific location TBA)
📍July 6-10, 2026 - Wombaroo, NSW
📍September 21-25, 2026 – Warrawee (Joyner, QLD)
📍October 2026 – location & dates TBA
📍December 2026 – location & dates TBA

Spots are limited. Reach out now to learn more or get involved:
☎️ (02) 8488 0802
✉️ hi@recoverycamp.com.au

📣We’re excited to share that Recovery Camp is returning to Wombaroo in 2026!This will be our first time back at Wombaroo...
16/12/2025

📣We’re excited to share that Recovery Camp is returning to Wombaroo in 2026!

This will be our first time back at Wombaroo since 2017, and we’re looking forward to delivering our evidence based therapeutic recreation programs at this special location in the heart of the stunning Southern Highland region of NSW.

📍 Wombaroo – High Range, NSW
🗓️ January 12–16, 2026
🗓️ July 6–10, 2026
➕ Additional 2026 Wombaroo programs to be announced

Recovery Camp programs support mental health recovery by bringing together people with lived experience and health students in a structured, supportive outdoor environment.

If you’d like to learn more or register your interest for upcoming programs, please get in touch:

📞 (02) 8488 0802
📧 hi@recoverycamp.com.au
🌐 www.recoverycamp.com.au

27/11/2025

A five-second flashback to five years ago! One of our most loved camp staples - the bushdance 💚

From laughter to connection, nights like this at Y Yarramundi capture the spirit of Recovery Camp.

Want to experience it for yourself?

Contact Recovery Camp at:
(02) 8488 0802
hi@recoverycamp.com.au

or visit www.recoverycamp.com.au/ to sign up for an upcoming program.

14/11/2025

🎉 3 weeks to go!

Our December 8–12 program is almost here - five powerful days of evidence-based therapeutic recreation, connection, skill building and real mental health impact.

If you’ve been waiting for a sign to join us… this is it. 💚
👉 Just a few places available - sign up today!
🔗 Links in bio

11/11/2025

💚 Something special is on the way to Recovery Camp…
Be part of the fun at our next program, December 8–12, and see what’s waiting for you! 👀✨
Stay tuned and sign up to join the experience.

Address

IAccelerate, UOW Innovation Campus, Squires Way
North Wollongong, NSW
2500

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+61284880802

Website

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