Sailing on Troubled Waters: Diversional Therapy in Australia

This paper seeks to explore the notion of Therapeutic Recreation (TR) in an Australian context. It does so through first reviewing the historical development of Diversional Therapy (DT) services in Australia and then examining the impact on service delivery of ongoing national reform in the health and community care sectors. The paper suggests that such reforms have created a somewhat fluid state of affairs whereby DT staff need decide whether or not they effectively embrace change and the challenges that such reforms have brought, or accept a substantially lesser role in the overall scheme of Australian health services in the not-too-distant future. With this need for positive (and immediate) action in mind, the paper concludes with a discussion of what DT staff need do to establish a valued place in the Australian health care mainstream.