Moral injury is now recognised as a multidimensional wound that cuts across biological, psychological, social, and spiritual domains of wellbeing. In my experience as a veteran with over 17 years of military service, including deployment to Afghanistan, and now over seven years delivering peer-based trauma recovery programs across Australia and internationally, I’ve come to believe that recovery requires more than just clinical intervention. It calls for relational repair, reconnection to meaning, and the restoration of identity.

Peer-led, lived-experience-informed models are emerging globally as a powerful and often essential component of moral injury recovery. These programs create space for safety, shared language, and deep trust, elements often missing in traditional settings. Peer facilitators bring more than knowledge; they bring presence, authenticity, and credibility. And perhaps most importantly, they open the door to connection. Because while we are not created to do life alone, the isolating effects of moral injury often convince people otherwise. In many cases, isolation becomes both a symptom and a barrier to healing.

This presentation will share insights from my work delivering peer-led trauma programs to veterans, first responders, and their families and the wider community. Drawing on clinical evaluations, including a major study by the Gallipoli Medical Research Foundation, I’ll explore how outcomes such as reduced psychological distress, improved social support, and enhanced wellbeing consistently follow these interventions. While REBOOT Recovery is one example, it is not the only one the value lies not in a brand, but in the model.

U.S. studies reinforce these findings, with thousands of participants reporting measurable improvement in core markers of moral repair, including forgiveness, meaning, and reconnection, regardless of faith background or clinical diagnosis.

This session will reflect on what makes peer models effective, explore the tensions and opportunities in integrating them with clinical pathways, and discuss real-world challenges in scaling and sustaining such programs.

The evidence and the lived reality is clear: peer-led models are not simply helpful. They are, for many, the lifeline. They bring healing back into reach and remind us that recovery, though deeply personal, is never meant to be walked alone.