What's Covered · Eligibility & access
Is Mental Health Covered by the NDIS?
NDIS mental health eligibility: how psychosocial disability is assessed under the published criteria, plus the recovery supports in the catalogue.
The short answer
The scheme funds supports for psychosocial disability - disability arising from a mental health condition - but access is assessed on impairment and functional impact, never on diagnosis alone.
Mental health reaches the NDIS through the idea of psychosocial disability: the term the scheme uses for disability that arises in connection with a mental health condition. The published access criteria assess it the same way they assess every other application - as a question of permanence, functional impact, and support need.
Nothing on this page decides or predicts an access outcome. It explains the published criteria so you know what the NDIA looks at.
How the criteria assess psychosocial disability
The disability requirements name psychosocial disability explicitly. Evidence must show it is caused by an impairment - a significant change to body function, structure, or how the person thinks and learns - that is likely to be permanent, weighed after available and appropriate treatment options have been considered.
The impairment must substantially reduce functional capacity in areas like communicating, socialising, learning, or managing life, and it must create a need for a high level of support from others, with the impact reaching work, study, or social life.
A person can meet the disability requirements and the early intervention requirements at the same time; early intervention asks whether supports now would improve functional capacity, stop it worsening, or build the skills of family and carers.
The NDIA publishes its access criteria, and the NDIA alone decides who becomes a participant. The criteria and application process are on the official NDIS website.
Recovery supports that exist in the catalogue
For participants, the catalogue carries supports built specifically for psychosocial disability. Psychosocial recovery coaching has its own line items with hourly price limits, and one of the named support categories in a plan is support coordination and psychosocial recovery coaches.
| Support item | Code | National | Remote | Very remote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psychosocial Recovery Coaching - Weekday Daytime (per hour) | 07_101_0106_6_3 | $110.44 | $154.62 | $165.66 |
| Psychosocial Recovery Coaching - Weekday Evening (per hour) | 07_102_0106_6_3 | $121.68 | $170.35 | $182.52 |
| Psychosocial Recovery Coaching - Saturday (per hour) | 07_104_0106_6_3 | $155.41 | $217.57 | $233.12 |
| Psychosocial Recovery Coaching - Sunday (per hour) | 07_105_0106_6_3 | $200.39 | $280.55 | $300.59 |
Source: NDIS Support Catalogue, effective (Pricing Arrangements). Price limits are GST-exclusive and are ceilings, not fixed prices. Self-managed participants can agree different prices.
Applying
The application route is the standard one: connect with an NDIS partner or apply directly, gather evidence from treating health professionals, and submit. The NDIA states it notifies applicants of the decision within twenty-one days of a complete application, refusals come with reasons and review rights, and reapplying is unlimited.
Before you act on this
If you intend to claim, check with your plan manager or support coordinator before purchasing.
Whether psychosocial recovery coaching can be claimed depends on your individual plan, your goals, and how your funding is managed. Your plan manager or support coordinator can confirm what applies to you.
Questions people ask
Does the NDIS cover mental health conditions?
The scheme funds supports for psychosocial disability - disability arising in connection with a mental health condition - where the published criteria are met: a likely-permanent impairment, substantially reduced functional capacity, and a high ongoing support need. A diagnosis by itself does not decide the outcome either way.
What is psychosocial disability?
It is the term the NDIS uses for disability connected to a mental health condition. The published disability requirements name it explicitly and assess it like any impairment: on permanence after treatment options are considered, on functional impact across daily life, and on the support need it creates.
What is a psychosocial recovery coach?
Recovery coaching is a catalogue support built for psychosocial disability, with its own line items and hourly price limits across weekday, evening, weekend, and public holiday delivery. It also appears in the name of a plan support category: support coordination and psychosocial recovery coaches.
Is NDIS therapy different from mental health treatment?
The not-NDIS-supports list excludes things that belong to another government system, and health treatment sits on that boundary. Where a particular therapy belongs is settled plan by plan, which is why the published guidance points people to their planner rather than to a general rule.
What evidence carries a psychosocial application?
Evidence from treating professionals that addresses the criteria: the treatment history, what impairment remains with treatment in place, and concrete detail on how functional capacity is substantially reduced. Applications are notified within twenty-one days of being complete, on the NDIA’s published timeframe.
Official sources
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