A charity with salt in its veins.
Fifty years of camps, one unchanging purpose: an affordable place by the sea where people grow.
Lennox Head, our home
Cost should never be the reason a child misses camp.
That single conviction shapes everything Northern Rivers Conference Centre does: our pricing, our volunteer culture, and the way we welcome every group — regardless of means, background or ability. We provide affordable camps and training camps for community groups across New South Wales, serving children aged 6–15, young people 15–25, adults and families.
- Subsidised charity rates for schools, churches and not-for-profit community groups
- Programs shaped for children (6–15), youth (15–25), adults and families alike
- A volunteer-supported board that reinvests every dollar into the site and its campers
- A standing commitment to keep the beach, the lake and the bush accessible to all
Our charity, on the record.
The details below are a matter of public record on the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission register — and this domain is our official home on the web.
Five decades on five acres.
Camp Drewe was established on 31 December 1971 as the Northern Rivers Conference Centre — a place set aside so that church groups, schools and families of the Northern Rivers could afford time away together by the sea.
Generations of Australians have slept in these bunks, learned to paddle on Lake Ainsworth, and sung around this campfire. We are still here, still a charity, and still measuring success the same way: by who gets to come, not by what we earn.
Seven Mile Beach
Between the surf and the tea-tree lake.
Coastal heath from above
Five acres of banksia heath
Our grounds sit in rare coastal heath — banksia, tea-tree and pandanus — with a walking trail that reaches the sand of Seven Mile Beach in under four minutes. It is a living classroom for ecology walks, dawn birdwatching and quiet reflection.
Lake Ainsworth, 600 metres away
One of Australia's few tea-tree-stained freshwater lakes — calm, shallow and famously gentle on beginners. It is where generations of campers have taken their first paddle strokes in a canoe.
Tea-tree freshwater
Run by stewards, not shareholders.
Camp Drewe is governed by a voluntary board responsible to the charity's members and to the ACNC. Our annual reports are lodged publicly, our finances are accountable, and our decisions are tested against one question: does this keep camp within reach of the groups who need it most?
Questions about our governance or charity status are always welcome at enquiries@campdrewe.com.au.