Join the Peer Academy

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 is a free program that 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. 

It offers an alternative to traditional education pathways over four 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 developed by COORDINARE- The South Eastern NSW Primary Health Network (PHN). 

COORDINARE aims to improve the health and wellbeing of the community by helping community members to make informed choices about their health and wellbeing, funding services to address local health care needs, and supporting health professionals to provide exceptional care and deliver better consumer experiences.  

Co-designed with young people, peer workers and service providers: we’ve created a thoughtfully curated and bite-sized pathway of learning shaped by real experiences and designed to work in the real world.  

The Peer Academy can help you build skills, confidence and connections, learn from experienced Peer Workers and gain practical experience in real healthcare settings; discovering how lived experience stories can become a source of hope for others. 

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.

Whether you’re exploring Peer Work for the first time or ready to take the next step towards a Peer career, the Peer Academy is a place to plant yourself, grow your skillset and branch out into the workforce.

This opportunity is designed for young people who are interested in building a future in the mental health sector. This program has been designed specifically for: 

• Young people aged 18-30  

• With lived and living experience of mental ill-health, 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 work as a Peer Worker

To be eligible for the program, you must not have already completed or be enrolled in tertiary studies in Peer Work or related mental health disciplines and cannot already be employed as a Peer Worker.  

The pilot program session will run from January-May 2027 and will include:

	Training bootcamp (full day) for a crash course experience and introduction to fellow participants and mentors.
	4-months of bite-sized and flexible peer work and job readiness training
	A supported service placement in the final month
	Participants will graduate at the end of May 2027

Looking for more information? 

Whether you're interested in joining the Peer Academy, becoming a mentor or learning how the program works, our frequently asked questions provide answers to some of the most commonly asked questions.

Explore our frequently asked questions