At his lowest point, veteran Adam Nickoll found himself out of work and out of money, living in a tent in bushland south-east of Perth.

Key points: Ex-veterans have acquired a bush camp property south of Perth

Ex-veterans have acquired a bush camp property south of Perth They offer respite care and assistance to ex-military personnel like Adam

They offer respite care and assistance to ex-military personnel like Adam They are calling on government and local businesses to sponsor the project

After trying to find work in Queensland, Mr Nickoll decided to return to his home state in Western Australia earlier this year to seek employment on the mines.

He enrolled in several courses to qualify himself and applied for countless jobs. But none of the applications were successful, and soon all of his funds had dried up.

"I pitched a tent and was living out of that for about two months while doing courses and trying to find work," he said.

"[There were] low points, sad days and lonely days."

Mr Nickoll struggled to find work and a place to live before has luck changed abruptly. ( ABC News: Rhiannon Shine )

Mr Nickoll joined the Australian Defence Force (ADF) in 1986, first serving with Sydney's 3RAR parachute battalion before later moving into clerical work.

He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder earlier this year and hit rock bottom when he lived in the tent and the hope of finding a job had faded.

But virtually overnight, his luck changed.

A job and a place to stay

Mr Nickoll went into the Armadale RSL one Friday to meet with the WA chapter of the Military Brotherhood, a motorcycle club which supports veterans.

After hearing Mr Nickoll's story, the Brotherhood introduced him to RSL president Lynda Zappelli, who had Mr Nicoll set up in a hotel that night.

By Tuesday, Mr Nickoll had a fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) job as a dump truck driver with MACA Mining at a mine site in WA's Mid West thanks to the organisation Working Spirit, which helps veterans find work.

He also became the first resident at a new veterans' "transition centre", set up by a group of ex-servicemen who hope it will become a first-of-its-kind base for WA military personnel transitioning back into civilian life.

The Recovery and Restoration Centre is in bushland about 45 kilometres south of Perth. ( ABC News: Rhiannon Shine )

The Recovery and Restoration Centre charity purchased a property last year from a Catholic nun who previously used the site to run counselling groups.

The Jarrahdale property, 45 kilometres south of Perth, was set on 16 hectares of bushland, with self-contained log cabins and dormitories to accommodate about 100 people.

Mr Nickoll said the centre had been life-changing, and he could not believe how his fortunes had turned around.

Mr Nickoll was the first person to move into the Recovery and Restoration Centre. ( ABC News: Rhiannon Shine )

"Every day I wake up and I am thankful and grateful," he said.

"I did not ask for this. I was struggling but I was doing OK, but they saw I needed more help and they just gave it to me openly."

'Veterans to help veterans'

Recovery and Restoration Centre chairman Geoff Baldwin said the charity was created to facilitate partnerships between organisations that would enable "veterans to help veterans".

Mr Baldwin, who joined the Army at 21 before being medically discharged 12 years later, said the vision for the site was to create a hub that would allow organisations to work together, like they had in Mr Nickoll's case.

Recovery and Restoration Centre chairman Geoff Baldwin says they need more funding. ( ABC News: Rhiannon Shine )

"There are some fantastic organisations but most of those organisations are about helping people after the fact, when they are already suffering," he said.

"Our point of difference is that we want to help people at the gate, we want to be a safety net for them.

"We want to focus on transition — in other words, grabbing people at the gate when they've still got their chin off their chest with a high sense of self-worth, and then building on that."

He said the long-term vision for the centre was to offer a full suite of services including counselling, training, development and vocational guidance, as well as a "safe house" for any ex-service person who needed accommodation or support.

Call for federal funding

But Mr Baldwin said the group needed funds to achieve the goal and had been lobbying the Federal Government.

The centre is aimed at having "veterans help veterans", Mr Baldwin said. ( ABC News: Rhiannon Shine )

He said the centre had hosted the Minister for Veterans' Affairs Darren Chester earlier in the year.

"He was terrific, and I think believed in what we are trying to do," Mr Baldwin said.

"But Minister, we need some dough and we need it now so that we can get on with looking after veterans. We have a fantastic board and some terrific volunteers, but we don't have money.

"We are spending all our time and energy hunting around for funds. What we need is for the Government to get serious about funding."

Karyn Hinder, who founded Working Spirit in 2016 to help veterans into work and found Mr Nickoll his FIFO job, said her organisation was also without funding, and she had to rely on grants.

Karyn Hinder from Working Spirit helped Mr Nickoll get work, but also says funding is needed. ( ABC News: Rhiannon Shine )

"[Veterans] are not really sure of how to sell themselves or don't get the opportunity to present themselves to a company," she said.

"I set up meet and greets where we take veterans directly into companies, and that gives them an opportunity to talk face-to-face.

"And that has been quite a successful program here in Perth for getting veterans hired."