Snowy Valleys Wins Prestigious Healthcare Innovation Award
Exciting News! We’ve Won!
We are thrilled to share that Green Prescriptions: Improving Psychosocial Wellbeing has won the Agency for Clinical Innovation (ACI) Award! This prestigious award celebrates excellence in clinical practice and innovation, recognising those who are transforming healthcare through research, collaboration, and bold new approaches to care.
Jennifer Wines and Jacinta Elphick from MLHD accept the award
This win is not only an incredible honour, but also a major step forward in validating and progressing the emerging movement of nature prescribing in Australia. A heartfelt thank you to all our supporters, partners, and participants who have helped make this vision a reality.
This award-winning research collaboration between NatureFix, the Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD), and Southern Cross University is centred around the Snowy Valleys Nature Wellness Trails. The project features a structured 6-week program that tracks psychosocial wellbeing over time, delivering both measurable outcomes and deeply personal benefits.
But this is so much more than spending time in nature.
The NatureFix program is a trauma-informed, evidence-led framework designed to support clinicians and healthcare practitioners in reliably increasing an individual’s sense of nature connectedness as a key predictor of long-term mental, and emotional health outcomes.
It equips practitioners with a practical, safe, and powerful way to integrate nature into treatment and recovery plans, especially for individuals navigating stress, anxiety, trauma, PTSD or burnout.
Participants follow carefully designed trails, including immersive experiences at sites like the Pilot Hill Arboretum, where interactive furnishings by Forestry Corporation of NSW help deepen engagement. The results? Strong data, heartfelt testimonials, and visible improvements in wellbeing.
Sky Seat at Pilot Hill Arboretum Bago State Forest.
“NatureFix has taken my anxiety away & calmed my soul. I feel like all the ropes have just fallen off… It’s like I’ve been pulled in 1000 directions all these ropes pulling on me - well they just fell off.”
Winning the ACI Award strengthens the case for nature-based approaches as legitimate, effective, and essential components of future healthcare. It’s a recognition that reconnecting people to nature is not just for inspiration or a ‘nice to have’, but for recovery, resilience, and thriving.
We’re especially proud to acknowledge that this program has been more than four years in the making. Over this time, we’ve worked closely with the MLHD to co-develop and deliver care through the Snowy Valleys Nature Wellness Drive. We want to deeply thank the tireless efforts from the MLHD clinicians and leadership team who have made this possible. Anyone who has tried to bring new approaches into healthcare knows just how challenging these systems are to shift. It takes belief, persistence, and a commitment and that’s exactly what this team has done.
Also a special thank you to the dedicated team at Southern Cross University, who generously took on the research - an extraordinary contribution that highlights just how vital and meaningful this collective effort is.
Nature connection activity at Batlow Lookout
But this is just the beginning.
To ensure this momentum continues, it’s essential that nature-based health programs are properly resourced, integrated into policy, and embedded into mainstream health services. With ongoing support, we can build a future where access to nature prescribing is not a luxury, but a validated, funded, and accessible part of healthcare that everyone has the right to access.
Our sincere thanks to the many who have made this possible.
Learn more about the Snowy Valleys Nature Wellness Drive.
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