Ever since its introduction in 2013, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has strived to empower people with disabilities through various government-funded disability supports and services. This nationwide scheme provides direct funding to eligible participants, including those with psychosocial disabilities, for them to purchase the supports they need. Like any other disability support funded by the NDIS, mental health supports are included in a participant’s plan if they meet the NDIS funding criteria and are found to be ‘reasonable and necessary.’

The NDIS usually funds mental health supports that are not clinical in nature. Typically, NDIS-funded mental health supports focus on improving the functional capacity of the participants and those supports are directly related to their psychosocial disability. Psychosocial Recovery Coaches are an important NDIS-funded support item. Recovery Coaches are mental health experts who help the participants in their mental health recovery journey. According to the NDIS, recovery means that the participant is able to achieve an ideal level of personal, social and emotional well-being despite their psychosocial disability. Recovery is an incredibly personal process and will be different for each person. The NDIS is not supposed to be a replacement for the informal and mainstream supports of the participants. Instead, it is meant to work together with other support systems. Therefore, the NDIS will fund mental health supports only if they are found to be the most appropriate body to fund them. Registered NDIS service providers can guide the participants in this regard by assisting them in accessing the supports that best suit their disability needs.

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