Identity After Service
A program for Clearance Divers navigating one of the most personal challenges of transition: understanding who you are and where you belong when the role that defined you has changed.
One of three programs funded by the NCDT Transition and Resilience Fund. Distinct from the NCDT Relief Fund, which covers immediate financial hardship.
One of transition's hardest questions
For many Clearance Divers, the hardest part of leaving service is not finding work. It is working out who you are without the role that defined you. Clearance Diving is not just a career. It carries its own culture, language, identity, and belonging. When that ends, the effect can be profound, and it often goes unacknowledged in standard transition support. The CD Identity Management Program is a Transition and Resilience Fund initiative designed to address this directly. It works with Clearance Divers on the questions of identity, connection, and belonging that shape long-term wellbeing after service.
What the program explores
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Identity: how stepping away from the CD role reshapes your sense of self
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Belonging: maintaining connection to the community and building new networks
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Wellbeing: the relationship between identity and long-term mental health outcomes
Built on proven foundations
The program is built on a model originally designed by the University of Queensland to help elite athletes navigate the end of their professional sporting careers. The parallels with Clearance Diving are direct: a hard-won identity, a tight community, a specialist role that does not transfer easily to civilian life, and a sudden change of circumstances.
The same evidence-based framework, refined over years of clinical research, now supports Clearance Divers through the personal side of transition. You are not starting from scratch. You are working with a method that already works.
Who this is for
Serving Clearance Divers preparing for transition, and ex-serving Clearance Divers at any stage of civilian life.
Not what you need right now? This program addresses identity and belonging, not immediate financial hardship. If you need financial support now, the NCDT Relief Fund may be more appropriate.
- FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
If you do not find what you need below, contact the NCDT CD Community Development Liaison at cdliaison@ncdt.org.au.
Who funds this program?
The CD Identity Management Program is funded by the NCDT Transition and Resilience Fund, registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC). The fund receives no government funding and operates entirely through donations and sponsorship.
Who can take part?
The pilot is open to serving and ex-serving Royal Australian Navy Clearance Divers.
Is this the same as the coaching program?
No. The CD Professional Coaching Program focuses on career planning and civilian employment. This program specifically addresses identity and belonging: the personal shift that happens when a defining role ends.
I am struggling right now. Is this the right place to reach out?
If you need support now, please do not wait for a program. Contact Open Arms on 1800 011 046 (free, 24/7) or the ADF All-Hours Support Line on 1800 628 036. DVA may also be able to assist. For immediate financial hardship, the NCDT Relief Fund may be more appropriate. Visit the Request Support page.
