Frequently asked questions

Peer Workers are people with lived and living experience who use their own life-changing experiences of mental health challenges, alcohol and other drug use, suicidality, caring, or navigating services to support others.

Through sharing their experiences purposefully and safely, peer workers help people feel understood, remind people they are not alone in their challenges,  build hope by demonstrating that recovery is possible, support people to find sources of strength within their own stories and walk alongside people as they navigate their own unique recovery journey.

Alongside supporting individuals, they also contribute to improving services and ensuring the voices of people with lived experience help shape the systems designed to support them.

Peer Work is more than a job. It is part of a broader lived experience movement built by people who believed that personal experiences of mental health challenges, alcohol and other drug use, suicidality and caring have value, meaning and expertise to offer others.

Today, peer workers are employed across a wide range of settings, including:

As the profession continues to grow, so do the opportunities for people with lived and living experience to build meaningful careers that create hope, connection and positive change.

The Peer Academy is a supported vocational pathway that helps young people (aged 18-30) transform their lived and living experience of mental health challenges into meaningful careers as Peer Workers.

The Peer Academy equips young people with the skills, confidence and connections to enter the peer workforce and use their experiences to create hope, connection and positive change for others.

Co-designed with young people, peer workers and service providers, the Peer Academy offers an alternative to traditional education pathways over three months of flexible, bite-sized learning including micro-credentials that contribute towards a Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work, mentoring, practical work experience and a strong community of support.  
 

The Peer Academy is built on a simple belief: young people with lived and living experience have something essential to offer the mental health system.  

Too often, traditional pathways into the workforce don’t reflect the realities of navigating mental ill-health and it can be difficult to sustain the pace, pressure or structure of traditional tertiary education models even with passion, hard-earned insight and commitment to contribute meaningfully.  

The Peer Academy is here to change that. By creating alternative pathways into the peer workforce, it aims to equip young people with the skills, confidence and connections they need to grow a peer career. 

The Peer Academy also responds to increasing demand across the mental health workforce. As services continue to grow and require a more diverse and responsive workforce, there is an opportunity to better harness the knowledge and wisdom that is already alive in communities through lived and living experience. By equipping young people with the skills and support to translate their experiences into practice, the Academy contributes to a broader, more sustainable pipeline of Peer Workers to step into exponentially emerging Peer roles.

This program has been designed specifically for: 

• Young people aged 18-30  

• With lived and living experience of mental health challenges, alcohol and other drug use and/or suicidality; 

• Living in the South Eastern NSW region; (the region spans from Helensburgh in the north, through to the Victorian border in the south, and as far west as Yass reaching to the east coast) 

• With the desire to gain employment in a Peer Work position; 

• Who have experienced barriers to accessing or participating in traditional tertiary education pathways. 

To be eligible for the program, you must: 

• Not already be employed as a Peer Worker. 

• Not have already completed, or be enrolled in, tertiary studies in Peer Work or related mental health disciplines. 

After completing the program, participants will have gained:  

• Up to three micro-credentials toward a certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work in the units of trauma-informed care, working with diverse people and promoting and facilitating self-advocacy.  

• An understanding of the movement, values, principles and practices that underpin Peer Work.  

• Education and training in Peer-specific skills from credible training providers. 

• Ten mentoring sessions with an experienced Peer Worker.   

• Job readiness support including a ready resume and interview practice for self-determined self-disclosure. 

• Familiarity with pathway options to continue accredited training programs.  

• Practical work experience that can be included on a resume. 

• The beginnings of a Peer network. 

The pilot program cohort will run from January-April 2027. This includes: 

• Training bootcamp (full day) for a crash course experience and introduction to fellow participants and mentors. 

• Four months of bite-sized and flexible Peer work and job readiness training.

• A supported work experience opportunity.

• Participants will graduate at the end of April 2027. 

Yes! The program is free for participants.  
 
COORDINARE - South Eastern NSW PHN has received Federal funding from the Department of Health and Ageing to fund this program free of cost to participants for 12 months. 

Enrolments will open on our Peer Academy website on 1 October 2026 and close on 1 November 2026. 

There are 30 places for young people to participate in the first training group starting in January 2027

Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application by mid-November 2026.  

If you are offered a place in the program, you will be asked to complete and return a Learning Agreement by 1 December 2026. 

The Peer Academy is built on the knowledge, skills, and leadership of our existing peer workforce, and we are excited to create meaningful opportunities for Peer Workers to contribute to the Academy experience. A key role for existing Peer Workers is as mentors in the Peer Academy. Every Academy participant will be matched with a Peer Mentor who will provide guidance, encouragement, and support throughout the three-month pilot program and during their first work experience opportunity.

Peer Mentors will help participants navigate their learning journey, build confidence in their peer identity, and support their transition into the workforce through regular catch-ups and check-ins. Participants will first connect at the Peer Academy Bootcamp in January 2027,where Peer Mentors will play an important role in helping participants feel welcomed, connected, and supported. 

We also recognise that our peer workforce holds a wealth of expertise across a broad range of practice areas. As part of their involvement, Peer Mentors will have the opportunity to contribute a "Lunch and Learn" session to the Academy, sharing an area of passion, expertise, or professional experience with participants.  

Peer Workers are also invited to contribute to the ongoing design and development of the Academy through co-design and consultation activities. These opportunities will help ensure the Academy remains grounded in peer values, responsive to workforce needs, and informed by contemporary peer practice. 
 
Further information about mentoring opportunities can be found here.

Service providers are an essential partner in the success of the Peer Academy.  
 
One of the key workforce gaps the Academy aims to address is the transition from training to employment. While education and skills development are important, access to supported practice and real-world experience is often what enables emerging Peer Workers to build confidence, develop workplace capability, and successfully enter the workforce. 
 
Service providers can play a critical role by offering opportunities that help participants apply their learning in practice. Supported placement and work experience opportunities are a valuable way to build employment readiness while introducing participants to the realities of working within mental health, community services, and lived experience settings. 

We envision many ways that service providers can contribute, including: 

• Hosting work experience or placement opportunities for participants; 

• Hosting in-service visits to introduce participants to difference service settings and models of care; 

• Partnering with graduates to develop and deliver new lived experience initiatives or group programs in your organisation; 

• Providing shadowing opportunities for graduates to learn alongside experienced Peer Workers; 

• Supporting Peer Workers to participate as Peer Academy mentors; 

• Other opportunities for learning and support that you can offer! 

Service providers are also invited to contribute to the ongoing design and development of the Academy through co-design and consultation activities. These opportunities will help ensure the Academy remains grounded to implementation realities and graduates are equipped to meet workforce expectations.  

Further information about hosting work experience opportunities will be released in October. 

Hi, I’m Zoe, I’m the Youth Peer Workforce Project Coordinator at COORDINARE- South Eastern NSW Primary Health Network where I work in an identified lived and living experience position.

I will be responding to your expression of interest forms. My role is supporting participants and peer mentors program experience. I feel really excited to be working on this program and look forward to connecting with young people and peer workers to answer any questions and find out if the Peer Academy is right for you. 

I welcome you to reach out with any program queries to zoe.hinge@coordinare.org.au and I’ll respond to you within 48 business hours. 

Hi, I’m Zoe, I’m the Youth Peer Workforce Project Coordinator at COORDINARE- South Eastern NSW Primary Health Network where I work in an identified lived and living experience position.

I will be responding to your expression of interest forms. My role is supporting participants and peer mentors program experience. I feel really excited to be working on this program and look forward to connecting with young people and peer workers to answer any questions and find out if the Peer Academy is right for you. 

I welcome you to reach out with any program queries to zoe.hinge@coordinare.org.au and I’ll respond to you within 48 business hours. 

Hi, I’m Court, I work as the Program Lead, Regional Peer Workforce at COORDINARE- South Eastern NSW Primary Health Network where I work in an identified lived and living experience position.

I will be supporting service providers, training providers and other stakeholders to take up a role in the program. I also offer insight and supports for sharing and scaling this program to other regions.  

Please reach out to connect and partner at ccross@coordinare.org.au