When a group of local health professionals were discussing what could be done to help prevent a string of tragic youth suicides, an innovative idea was born.
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At first we thought we were daggy, and the young people probably wouldn't come.
- Teen Clinic nurse Meghan Campbell
"We were just sitting around the staff room wondering what we could do," nurse Meghan Campbell said.
"We had to do something because these kids weren't accessing help, and Teen Clinic has evolved from there.
"This is a grassroots solution to a global issue."
The clinic is a free service giving teenagers with the chance to talk to one-on-one with a nurse about a range of health issues in a non-judgmental environment.
The concept has been accepted into the first group of participants in the University of Wollongong's business incubator program iAccelerate, run out of the new Bega Valley Innovation Hub.
"At first we thought we were daggy, and the young people probably wouldn't come, but the fact they keep coming is a sign it's going well," Ms Campbell said.
"We thought by just having nurses young people would be less intimidated.
"Initially we thought running it out of a general practice might be a problem, but there's actually benefits in that we have doctors on hand.
"It's a safety net that there's always someone there. Everyone is trained, so if a young person comes outside operating hours we never turn them away."
In the beginning the team had no money, no new staff and many social barriers to break down, yet with the help of Bega Valley Medical Practice's Dr Duncan MacKinnon and not-for-profit organisation Coordinaire, the concept has now expanded to Eden, Merimbula, Narooma and Kiama.
The Teen Clinic team, who see up to 14 patients in just two days each week in Bega, are hoping the hub course will help the spread of the nurse lead clinics across the country.
"We are hoping to solidify a model because we have to find one that will help roll it out across the country," Ms Campbell said.
"A little bit of funding will go a long way, and local clubs, organisations and schools could help build new branches."
iAccelerate CEO Omar Khalifa said the health sector is facing an array of problems which can be tackled at a grassroots level.
"One big issue is health, and we as a society are not investing in that. People can solve the problems from the bottom up," he said.
He said unlike North American incubators that search for the elusive "unicorn", or a startup with the potential to make billions of dollars, Australia is more focused on solving real life problems.
"What you find is the diversity of the community, and real issues that need to be solved," he said.
"Here it is more pragmatic and solutions focused, not just the unicorns who break through.
"You never know where the problems may be solved."
Mr Khalifa said with the incubator's $10million seed fund the aim of the program is to help businesses become self funded.
"The investors are changing. The new layer is now people looking to problem solve.
"We want to create a standard so people see what they need to create a business."
Of the eight businesses taking part in the initial 12-week course, just one does not have a female founding member.
This bucks the trend found in a Startup Muster 2018 survey which showed male founders represent 77.1 per cent of Australia's startup world.
Mr Khalifa said while young people innovate, "the most successful entrepreneurs are between 40 and 50 years old".
"They are people who understand their business really well and maybe have financial security," he said.
