DOCUMENT 2

Understand psychology supports

SGP KP Publishing

Exported on 2026-06-29 02:32:47

Table of Contents

1. Recent updates …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 4

2. Before you start …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 5

3. What are psychology supports? ……………………………………………………………………………. 6

4. Mainstream psychology supports ………………………………………………………………………….. 7

5. NDIS funded psychology supports ………………………………………………………………………… 8

6. Next steps …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 10

This article provides guidance for all NDIA staff and partners to understand:

• what are psychology supports • mainstream psychology supports • NDIS funded psychology supports.

1 Recent updates

24 November 2025 New knowledge article.

2 Before you start

You have read and understood:

• Our Guideline – Reasonable and necessary supports (external) • Our Guideline – Mainstream and community supports (external) • Our Guideline – Therapy supports (external).

3 What are psychology supports?

Psychology supports can help the participant to:

• build independence in their home, at work or in the community • improve or maintain their capacity • build skills and confidence to do their everyday living activities.

We can sometimes fund psychology as a therapy support. The NDIS can fund psychology as a therapy support if it will help to increase or maintain the participant’s functional capacity. The NDIS can’t fund psychology which is for assessment, diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of mental health conditions.

There are other systems apart from the NDIS that provide psychology supports and services. We call these mainstream services, and they’re available to everyone in Australia. To learn more, go to section Mainstream psychology supports in this article.

4 Mainstream psychology supports

Mainstream psychology supports include supports that assess, diagnose, treat and monitor mental health conditions.

These are things like:

• services for assessment, diagnosis, treatment or monitoring of mental health conditions such as schizoaffective disorder, borderline personality disorder and anxiety disorder.

• services for emergency or crisis mental health situations. For example, suicide or self- harm interventions

• mental health services provided in hospitals, mental health residential care, rehabilitation settings or mental health outpatient clinics

• mental health services for parents or children to support family relationships or child development

• mental health services available through the education system. For example, school mental health practitioners

• services for the treatment, management or support of alcohol or drug dependency or other addictions

• medication for mental health conditions.

To learn more about mainstream psychology supports, go to Our Guideline – Mainstream and community supports (external).

5 NDIS funded psychology supports

We can fund some psychology as therapy supports for participants. This includes supports that help participants:

• improve or maintain their functional capacity • increase their levels of independence to do everyday activities.

To learn more about who can provide psychology as a therapy support, go to Our Guideline – Therapy supports (external).

We may fund therapy with a psychologist which is capacity building in nature. For example, we may fund therapy focused on:

• developing organisational or motivational skills • helping the participant develop strategies to manage emotions and adjust to life changes due to their disability • developing social and communication skills.

We can fund psychology as a therapy support when it:

• relates to the participant’s disability support needs • is evidence-based practice • meets the NDIS funding criteria.

Note: some clinical therapies can be funded if they are for a limited time and specifically used to build capacity related to the participant’s disability. For example, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to help the participant recognise their emotional and behavioural response to the impact of their disability. However, if CBT is used to treat the participant’s mental health condition, the participant will need to access these supports through the mainstream health system instead.

Psychology supports are funded in the participant’s plan as therapy supports. Therapy supports are stated supports. To learn more, go to section What happens when you get therapy supports in your plan? in Our Guideline – Therapy supports (external).

We may also include funding for the psychologist to coordinate with other members of the participant’s support team. For example, their psychosocial recovery coach or occupational therapist. This would be included in the participant plan as part of their capacity building supports.

Note: if the participant is already claiming sessions through another service, they can’t use NDIS funding to claim the same support. For example, they can’t use NDIS funding to cover gap payments for Medicare or private health-funded supports. If the participant claims psychology sessions in their NDIS plan, they need to be separate from any Medicare funded sessions. Planners should discuss this with the participant and include information about it in the plan comments.

To learn more about mainstream psychology supports, go to Our Guideline – Mainstream and community supports (external).

To learn more about NDIS funded therapy supports, go to Our Guideline – Therapy supports (external).

6 Next steps

There are other NDIS supports related to mental health that may be appropriate for the participant’s plan. For example, psychosocial recovery coaching, art therapy, music therapy, counselling and occupational therapy.

1. To learn more about psychosocial disability, go to article Understand psychosocial disability.

2. To learn how to add support coordination and psychosocial recovery coach funding to the participant’s plan, go to article Understand support coordination and psychosocial recovery coach funding.

3. To learn more about other types of therapy supports, including counselling, occupational therapy, art therapy and music therapy, go to Our Guideline – Therapy supports (external).