Since its inception, Neami has had a strong history of striving for excellence in service delivery through evidence-driven practice. In 2003, the agency became part of a five year multi-site Australian study, as part of the Australian Integrated Mental Health Initiative (AIMhi) aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the Collaborative Recovery Model (CRM). Following involvement in this study, Neami became particularly interested in introducing the CRM model across the whole organisation. Neami chose to delay the widespread implementation of CRM due to the considerable national growth occurring at this time. The most appealing aspects of the CRM were the emphasis on consumers leading their recovery journey in collaboration with support staff. Further to this was the strong alignment with the values articulated in the model and those demonstrated at Neami. In late 2009 the Illawarra Institute of Mental Health, a department within the University of Wollongong (UOW), in partnership with Neami and four other non-government mental health agencies, were successful in receiving an ARC (Australian Research Council) Linkage Grant. The aim of the study was to look into the factors that impact on the transfer of training into practice following the involvement of staff in the Collaborative Recovery Training Program. Neami’s involvement in this study prompted the National Leadership Team to again discuss the possibility of the CRM being adopted as Neami’s service delivery model, beyond involvement in the research project. The initial involvement of eight Neami sites in the study provided the basis for the implementation of the model throughout all the remaining Neami sites, with all staff training finalised in early 2010.