What is a psychosocial recovery coach?
The Quick Version
- A psychosocial recovery coach helps NDIS participants with mental health conditions build skills and take control of daily life.
- They’re funded under Capacity Building and focus on coaching, recovery planning, and connecting you with services.
- Recovery coaches are different from therapists, support workers, and support coordinators.
- The NDIS allows coaches with lived experience, formal qualifications, or a combination of both.
- Psychosocial recovery coaching is available for NDIS participants whose primary disability is psychosocial.
- Recovery coaching is available across Australia through NDIS providers, including in WA and QLD.
If you or someone you care about is living with a mental health condition and receiving NDIS support, you may have come across the term “psychosocial recovery coach” in your plan or during a planning meeting. It sounds specific. Maybe even a little clinical. And if you’re not sure what it actually means or whether it could help, you’re in good company.
A psychosocial recovery coach is one of the most underused supports in the NDIS, and one of the most valuable for people whose disability is linked to mental health. If you’ve been asking yourself, ‘What is a psychosocial recovery coach?’, then this guide is what you’ve been looking for. This guide covers what the role involves, how it differs from other supports you might already have, who it’s designed for, and how to get one included in your plan.
What is a psychosocial recovery coach?
A psychosocial recovery coach is an NDIS-funded professional who works with participants living with psychosocial disability to build their capacity, set personal goals, and manage the day-to-day challenges that come with mental health conditions.
The role was introduced to the NDIS in July 2020 and sits under the Capacity Building (Support Coordination) category in your plan. That’s an important distinction: recovery coaching is about building your skills and independence over time, not providing hands-on daily assistance.
The NDIA defines recovery in this context as achieving an optimal state of personal, social, and emotional well-being, as defined by each individual, while living with or recovering from a mental health condition. This aligns with the National Framework for Recovery-Oriented Mental Health Services, which has guided Australian mental health practice since 2013. Recovery doesn’t necessarily mean the absence of symptoms. It means building a life that feels meaningful and manageable, even on the harder days.
One of the things that makes this role different from almost every other support in the NDIS is the option to choose a coach based on the kind of experience they bring. The NDIS recognises both lived experience (someone who has personally experienced mental health challenges) and learned experience (formal training and professional knowledge of psychosocial disability). Under the scheme, coaches can hold one or both. Many effective coaches bring a combination of lived and learned experience, and that blend can be a real strength in the relationship.
What does a recovery coach actually do?
The NDIA’s provider guidance outlines six core responsibilities for a psychosocial recovery coach. In practice, a typical week might include some or all of the following.
Building a relationship based on trust
Before anything else, your recovery coach gets to know you. For many people with psychosocial disability, past experiences with services and systems haven’t always been positive. The relationship itself is the foundation, built on hope, consistency, and the belief that recovery is possible.
Developing a personal recovery plan
This is separate from your NDIS plan, though the two should align. Your recovery plan identifies your personal goals, breaks them into smaller steps, and maps out the support you need to get there. It might cover things like attending appointments, reconnecting with family, managing finances, or joining a community group.
Coaching you to build skills and confidence
Recovery coaches use evidence-based approaches like motivational interviewing and strengths-based practice to help you build resilience, make decisions, and develop self-advocacy skills. The emphasis is on working with you rather than doing things for you.
Connecting you with services
A recovery coach helps link you with both NDIS and non-NDIS services, from allied health therapies and community participation programs to mainstream mental health services, peer support groups, housing, and employment support. They’re expected to have strong knowledge of what’s available locally.
Supporting you through difficult periods
Mental health isn’t linear. Recovery coaches understand the episodic and fluctuating nature of psychosocial disability and can help you create a crisis prevention or safety plan. They stay engaged through the tough stretches. That’s a core part of the role.
Helping you use your NDIS plan well
This includes helping you understand your funding, prepare for plan reviews, and articulate what’s working and what isn’t. In research conducted by the Centre for Social Impact at Swinburne University, seven out of 10 participants reported that working with a recovery coach reduced their barriers to NDIS navigation. A peer-reviewed follow-up study found that participants also experienced improved outcomes in feeling valued, finding meaning and purpose, and exercising choice and control in daily life.
Recovery coaching is typically funded at around one hour per week across the plan period, though this varies. That’s generally more hours, over a longer timeframe, than support coordination.
Who is psychosocial recovery coaching for?
Psychosocial recovery coaching is designed for NDIS participants whose primary disability is psychosocial. But what does that actually mean?
Psychosocial disability is the term used to describe the functional limitations that can arise from mental health conditions. Not everyone with a mental health condition has a psychosocial disability. It applies when the condition has a severe and lasting impact on your ability to carry out everyday activities and participate in community life.
Mental health conditions that may lead to psychosocial disability include schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, severe and persistent depression, severe anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), personality disorders, and psychotic disorders. For the purposes of NDIS eligibility, the impairment resulting from these conditions needs to be considered permanent, though the NDIS recognises that psychosocial disability can be episodic and fluctuating in nature.
The NDIS assesses eligibility based on functional impact across six domains: social interaction, self-care, self-management, communication, learning, and mobility. The most commonly affected domains for people with psychosocial disability are social interaction, self-care, and self-management.
One thing worth understanding is that the NDIS recognises that psychosocial disability can be episodic and fluctuating. You might function well for months, then experience a period of significantly reduced capacity. Under the NDIS Act 2013, impairments that are episodic or fluctuating in nature can still be considered permanent for the purposes of eligibility.
As of the most recent NDIS data, there are approximately 65,800 participants with a primary psychosocial disability in the scheme. According to the AIHW, 81% of those participants reported the NDIS had helped them have more choices and control in their lives. That said, access rates for people with psychosocial disability have declined significantly in recent years, which makes strong evidence at the application stage more important than ever.
How a recovery coach compares to other supports
Understanding what a psychosocial recovery coach is becomes a lot clearer when you compare the role to other supports you might already have. If you’re working with a support coordinator, a psychologist, or a support worker, you might be wondering where recovery coaching fits in.
| Recovery coach | Support coordinator | Therapist | Support worker | |
| Who it’s for | Participants with psychosocial disability and recovery coaching funded in their plan | NDIS participants with support coordination funded in their plan | NDIS participants with Improved Daily Living funded in their plan | NDIS participants with relevant Core Supports funded in their plan |
| Primary focus | Mental health recovery, coaching, capacity building | NDIS system navigation, service coordination | Clinical treatment of mental health conditions | Hands-on daily assistance |
| Funding category | Capacity Building, Support Coordination (own line item) | Capacity Building, Support Coordination | Capacity Building, Improved Daily Living | Core Supports |
| Qualifications | Cert IV in Mental Health Peer Work or equivalent, and/or 2+ years’ mental health experience | No formal minimum for Level 2; an allied health or social work degree for Level 3 | Registered psychologist, counsellor, or allied health professional | Typically, a Cert III in Individual Support |
| Lived experience | Valued and specifically built into the role | Not a standard feature | Not a standard feature | Not a standard feature |
| Crisis support | Helps develop safety plans and stays engaged through difficult periods | Not typically part of the role | Clinical crisis intervention | Not typically part of the role |
| Relationship style | Long-term, coaching-based, relationship-focused (funding can span one to five years) | Can be more administrative and transactional | Clinical, structured sessions | Task-focused, may rotate |
The short version: a support coordinator helps you manage the system. A therapist treats the condition. A support worker assists with daily tasks. A psychosocial recovery coach helps you manage life — with specialist mental health knowledge and a recovery-oriented approach.
The NDIA generally funds either a recovery coach or a support coordinator in your plan, not both. In some complex situations, though, both can be funded if there’s a clear justification. A support coordinator might manage housing applications while a recovery coach focuses on daily recovery goals, but you’d need to demonstrate why one person can’t fulfil both functions.
How to access a psychosocial recovery coach through your NDIS plan
Now that you understand what a psychosocial recovery coach is and what they do, the next step is getting one into your plan. Here’s what that process looks like.
Getting recovery coaching into your plan
Recovery coaching needs to be included in your NDIS plan under Capacity Building (Support Coordination). You can request it during your initial planning meeting with your NDIS planner or Local Area Coordinator (LAC), at a scheduled plan review, or through a change of circumstances request if your mental health needs have shifted.
When making the request, focus on how recovery coaching will build your capacity. Specific examples help: keeping appointments, developing routines, building self-advocacy skills, reconnecting with the community, or preparing for employment.
If you’re applying to the NDIS for the first time with a mental health condition, the preferred evidence pathway is the Evidence of Psychosocial Disability (EPD) form. This was developed by the NDIA in collaboration with Flinders University’s Transition Support Project and has two sections: one completed by your clinician (GP or psychiatrist) and one completed by a support worker or someone who knows you well. It’s submitted alongside the Access Request Form. The Reimagine Today website also provides helpful step-by-step guidance on the access process for people with psychosocial disabilities.
Choosing the right recovery coach
Once recovery coaching is in your plan, the choice of provider is yours. Your LAC, NDIS planner, or existing support coordinator can help you find one. Some questions worth asking when you meet a potential coach:
- Are they someone you feel comfortable talking to about your mental health?
- Do they have experience with challenges similar to yours?
- Do they bring lived experience, learned experience, or both?
- Are they available in your area, or do they offer telehealth?
- Are they a registered NDIS provider under Registration Group 06? (Providers must meet the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission’s practice standards.)
The current weekday daytime rate for psychosocial recovery coaching under the 2025–26 NDIS Pricing Arrangements is $105.43 per hour. Recovery coaching rates can vary by time of day and day of week under the pricing arrangements, though individual providers may operate during set hours.
How St Jude’s can help
That’s where we come in. Here at St Jude’s, we’re an NDIS-registered disability and aged care provider that’s been supporting people across Western Australia and Queensland for over 40 years.
Our psychosocial recovery coaches work with participants in WA and QLD who are living with mental health conditions. They understand the episodic nature of psychosocial disability, and they stay consistent through the good stretches and the harder ones. That consistency matters. When your mental health fluctuates, the last thing you need is to start again with someone new.
What makes working with St Jude’s different is that recovery coaching doesn’t sit in isolation. If your needs change, or your goals grow, we have support coordination, allied health therapies (including occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and psychology), in-home support, community participation, mental health accommodation, and housing options all under one roof. Your recovery coach already knows your story, your goals, and what’s working. That means less repeating yourself and more time spent on what actually matters.
To be clear: St Jude’s doesn’t provide NDIS funding. That comes from the NDIA. What we provide is the support and coordination that helps you use that funding well.
Whether you’re just starting to explore recovery coaching or you’ve had a plan for a while and want to get more from it, we’re here when you’re ready. Get in touch or call us in WA on (08) 9279 4343, or in QLD on (07) 2800 6050.
You don’t need to have everything figured out before you reach out.
Frequently Asked Questions
The NDIA generally funds one or the other, not both. However, in more complex situations, both can be funded if there’s a clear reason why one person can’t cover everything. For example, a support coordinator might handle housing or SIL applications while a recovery coach focuses on your day-to-day recovery goals. Your NDIS planner can advise on what’s appropriate for your circumstances.
You need to be an NDIS participant with a psychosocial disability. To become an NDIS participant, you’ll generally need a diagnosis from a qualified health professional and evidence that the condition substantially reduces your functional capacity. The Evidence of Psychosocial Disability (EPD) form is the preferred way to provide this evidence. You don’t need to identify with a specific diagnosis to apply. Stating that you have a mental health condition is sufficient, though sharing a diagnosis can make the eligibility assessment more straightforward.
No. A psychologist or counsellor provides clinical treatment: therapy sessions focused on symptoms, diagnosis, and evidence-based interventions like CBT or EMDR. A psychosocial recovery coach focuses on empowerment and functional outcomes in daily living. Rather than treating the condition clinically, a recovery coach walks alongside you, helping you build skills, connect with services, develop routines, and work toward personal goals. The two roles complement each other, but they’re funded from different parts of your plan and serve different purposes.
You have the right to change providers at any time. The relationship between you and your recovery coach is central to the work, and if it doesn’t feel right, that matters. Speak to your LAC, NDIS planner, or support coordinator about finding a different coach. There’s no penalty for switching.
It depends on your individual needs and goals. Recovery coaching is generally funded at one of three levels: approximately 100 hours, 50 hours, or 30 hours across the plan period. Your NDIS planner or LAC will determine the right level of funding based on your circumstances and the goals you’re working toward.