Psychosocial recovery coach

What is a psychosocial recovery coach?

A psychosocial recovery coach is an NDIS-funded worker with mental health knowledge who supports a participant with psychosocial disability to plan their recovery, build skills and coordinate their supports. Recovery coaching combines coaching with the work of a support coordinator, and it is funded from the same capacity building Support Coordination budget. Participants can choose a coach with lived experience of mental ill-health and recovery, or one with learned knowledge.

A psychosocial disability is a disability that may arise from a mental health condition, and it often has an episodic course, with periods of being well and periods of being unwell. Recovery coaching was designed with that in mind. Rather than only connecting someone with providers, the coach spends time with the person, understands what recovery means to them, and helps them work towards it while managing the ups and downs. The NDIA's mental health and the NDIS page describes the support.

You'll see the term used for:

• The worker: the recovery coach, employed by a provider or working as a sole trader.
• The support: "recovery coaching", funded as support items in a participant's plan.
• The funding: hours in the capacity building Support Coordination budget.

What a recovery coach does

Recovery coaching is recovery-oriented and trauma-informed: the participant sets the direction, and the coach works with their strengths and goals rather than their diagnosis. Typical work includes:

• Getting to know the person and the people important to them, and understanding their needs and goals.
• Developing a recovery plan with the participant, including what helps when they become unwell.
• Finding and connecting supports: NDIS providers, community groups, housing, employment and peer support.
• Linking with mental health services and clinical teams, which stay responsible for treatment.
• Explaining the NDIS and helping the participant use their plan and prepare for their next one.
• Building capacity: confidence, daily routines and skills for managing life and supports.
• Coordinating during setbacks, so supports can scale up or adjust when the person's mental health changes.

A recovery coach is not a clinician. They don't diagnose, prescribe, provide psychological therapy or replace a GP, psychiatrist, psychologist or community mental health team. Those services are funded by the health system or, for some therapy, from a different part of the plan.

How recovery coaching is funded and claimed

Recovery coaching is listed in the NDIS pricing schedule 2026-27, which took effect on 24 September 2026. It has separate items for the time of day and day of week, plus an employment item:

The "07" at the start places the items in the Support Coordination category, and "0106" is the registration group for assistance in coordinating or managing life stages, transitions and supports. All are claimed per hour. In the 2026-27 schedule, recovery coaching and assistive technology mentoring are costed as Disability Support Worker Level 4 items, based on a SCHADS Award level 4.4 worker. Look up the current price limits in the free NDIS price guide rather than relying on old figures.

Like all supports, recovery coaching must meet the reasonable and necessary criteria, and the NDIA decides how many hours to fund. The hours are a budget across the plan, so agree with your coach how often you'll meet and how time spent on calls, emails and reports will be recorded.

Who can get a recovery coach

Recovery coaching is for NDIS participants whose disability is psychosocial, or who have a psychosocial disability alongside another disability. To become a participant, the person must meet the NDIS access requirements, including that their impairment is likely to be permanent and substantially reduces their functional capacity. The NDIS Act 2013 recognises that an impairment can be permanent even when it is episodic or fluctuating, which matters for many mental health conditions.

Being a participant with psychosocial disability doesn't guarantee recovery coaching. The NDIA looks at whether it is reasonable and necessary for that person, considering things like:

• how much help the person needs to understand and use their plan;
• how often their mental health changes and how that affects their supports;
• how many services and systems are involved, including clinical mental health care;
• what informal support the person has from family, friends or community; and
• the person's own goals for recovery and independence.

If the NDIA doesn't fund recovery coaching, or funds fewer hours than you need, you can ask for an internal review of the decision and then apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal. A treating clinician's report describing how your condition affects day-to-day life and why coaching would help is often the most useful evidence.

Recovery coach vs support coordinator

Both are funded from the Support Coordination budget and both help you use your plan. The difference is focus and depth: a support coordinator connects and coordinates supports, while a recovery coach does that and also coaches you through recovery, with specific mental health knowledge. Recovery coaches typically spend more time with the participant and are designed for the episodic nature of psychosocial disability.

Because a recovery coach also does coordination tasks, most participants have one or the other. The NDIA decides what is funded, and where a situation is especially complex it may consider other arrangements, such as specialist support coordination. If you're unsure which would suit you, ask your planner or local area coordinator to explain the options before your plan is approved.

Qualifications and choosing a recovery coach

NDIA guidance recommends that recovery coaches have at least a Certificate IV in Mental Health or Mental Health Peer Work, or similar training, and/or two years' paid experience supporting people with mental health challenges. Many have other qualifications too. Participants can choose a coach with lived experience, who draws on their own experience of mental ill-health and recovery, or a coach with learned experience of psychosocial disability and mental health.

Recovery coaches must follow the NDIS Code of Conduct, whether their provider is registered or not. Registered providers must make sure workers in risk-assessed roles hold an NDIS Worker Screening Check clearance; for unregistered providers it is recommended rather than required, and self-managed and plan-managed participants can ask for it. You can track clearances and certificates with the free worker screening tracker.

Recent changes that affect recovery coaching

Several 2026 changes touch recovery coaching even though the support itself hasn't been redesigned:

• New pricing schedule (24 September 2026). The NDIS pricing schedule 2026-27 replaced the old Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits. Recovery coaching items keep their numbers, but check the current limits and update service agreements.
• Funding periods. Many plans now release funding in periods, usually every three months, so a coach and participant need to pace hours within each period, not just across the year.
• No carry-over into renewed plans (from 1 February 2027). Unspent funds from a previous plan won't roll into a renewed plan, so unused coaching hours aren't banked.
• Support coordination reform (planned from 1 July 2028). The government is consulting on a commissioned Support Coordination and Connection service (Department of Health, Disability and Ageing). It hasn't been confirmed how recovery coaching will fit, so providers should follow the consultation.

For participants, the practical message is to agree a rhythm with your coach early in each funding period and review it if your mental health changes.

What providers offering recovery coaching need to do

• Use the right item for the day and time the coaching was delivered, and the employment item only for employment-related coaching.
• Write recovery-focused notes that link sessions to the participant's goals and recovery plan; these become evidence for the next plan.
• Check worker qualifications and supervision, including reflective supervision for lived-experience workers.
• Manage conflicts of interest if your organisation also delivers other supports to the participant.
• Plan for crises: know the participant's preferences, clinical contacts and what to do if their safety is at risk, and follow your incident management obligations.
• Use a clear service agreement covering hours, prices and how non-face-to-face time is recorded.

Common misunderstandings

• "A recovery coach is a counsellor." No. Coaching isn't therapy; clinical treatment stays with health services.
• "You need a diagnosis of a specific condition." Recovery coaching is for NDIS participants with psychosocial disability; access to the NDIS is decided on functional impact, not the label.
• "Recovery means being cured." In mental health, recovery means living a meaningful life on your own terms, with or without symptoms.
• "Recovery coaching comes from core funding." It's funded from the capacity building Support Coordination budget.
• "Lived experience coaches don't need training." Lived experience is valued, but NDIA guidance still recommends relevant training or experience.