Incorporating the Invictus Pathways Program. Harnessing the power of sport for wellbeing and community reintegration
Wellbeing for Australian Veterans and Emergency Services (WAVES), jointly founded by The Hospital Research Foundation and UniSA, focusses on the use of sport, exercise and participation in community adaptive sports to assist serving and veteran defence force personnel and first responders to improve their well-being.
Formerly the Invictus Pathways Program, the program was renamed WAVES in 2024 to better reflect the overall goals of the program and all of its components.
WAVES is motivated by the spirit of the Invictus Games, and while some of our participants will strive to compete at national and international events, for the majority it is to harness the power of exercise and sport to inspire recovery and well-being. The program aims to assist participants with their physical, mental and psychosocial wellbeing goals and includes activities that also welcome family members.
This global-first Program, supported by funding from Military and Emergency Services Health Australia (MESHA) provides participants with access to a range of wellbeing activities in the community as well as allied health services, including:
- baseline physiological testing and profiling
- training in state-of-the-art facilities
- support programs, and
- the expertise of UniSA’s leading health professionals and students.
"When you think there are no new ideas in the field of health, wellbeing and sports programmes for ill and injured military personnel, along comes something novel to blow this out of the water. The work at UniSA’s Invictus Pathways Program supported by MESHA, is truly world leading and including an occupational therapy capability is a great enhancement to this inter-disciplinary student-led program" - Martin Colclough OBE, Programme Advisory Board Member, Invictus: Endeavour Programme
"UniSA’s Invictus Pathways Program (IPP) is a great student-led initiative to deliver exercise based program to current/former serving ADF personnel and first responders. It focuses on mental as well as physical fitness to improve the well-being for the participants" - David Wiseman, Co Founder of Peak State Mental Fitness
“The UniSA Invictus Pathways Program aligns well with the goals of Invictus Australia, by providing wellbeing services and community connections through sport to not only veterans, but their family members and support networks as well. Invictus Australia is pleased to be working with UniSA to help deliver these experiences to veterans in South Australia.” – Michael Hartung, CEO, Invictus Australia.
IPP Merchandise available for purchase now!
Hear from our participants & students
The engagement you have with these young men and women, the humour you have there is actually so beneficial, not only for your physical wellbeing, but for you mental wellbeing as well. One contributes immensely to the other, and that increases your confidence, and you start to feel better about yourself. My wife has seen the worst change in me ever, and she’s stated that she had seen the benefits of me doing this Invictus program.
Back in the day I wouldn’t be caught dead on a bike, but I started doing that and I met a lot of great people through the program. We catch up almost every Saturday to go for a ride. It’s a lot more than just going to the gym. It had a very big effect on my life in a positive way. There has been a big difference in terms of my physical and mental health.
Thanks to the IPP I am fitter, happier and healthier than I have been in years! The program has set me up to succeed in managing my physical and mental recovery through sport and physical activity. I am grateful for all of the support from Uni SA to be the best that I can be.
I've learnt a number of things taking part in the Invictus Pathway Program. Engaging with people who have PTSD, different backgrounds was really challenging to begin with and I think having moved into working with the South Australia Metropolitan Fire service it just gave me a better perspective of how to handle that sort of thing and how rewarding it can be to work with those people as well.
This placement has been incredible. Building relationships with two people and following with them through that journey it's been uplifting… Being with them for 12 months instead of one day or two weeks you really get to know them for who they are and you get to understand their personality and you understand just them as a whole and it's really important to understand your clients to be able to really help them achieve their goals. I've learnt how to be clear in my communication and I've learnt how to really support people going through things that you can't see on the outside.
WAVES in the news
Key contacts
Postal address
University of South Australia,
P2-05 Playford Building,
City East Campus, Frome Road,
GPO Box 2471
Adelaide, SA, 5001
“The Invictus Pathways Program is a University owned, student-led program for Veterans and First Responders. It is not endorsed by or affiliated with the Invictus Games Foundation.”
