CHC43515

Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work

Learning Mode

Online/Face to Face

Location

Adelaide

Duration

12 Months

Study Load

Full Time

Course Overview

Turn your lived experience into a career that supports recovery and change

The Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work (CHC43515)  is a nationally recognised qualification designed specifically for people with lived experience of mental health — either personal or as a carer.

Delivered as a blend of online and face to face learning in Adelaide, this course builds the knowledge, skills, and confidence you need to work effectively in the growing mental health sector.

As a Mental Health Peer Worker, you use your lived experience to provide hope, support, and advocacy for others navigating their own mental health journey. This qualification prepares you for meaningful employment across government, public, private, and community-managed services.

Why Choose This Course?

  • Strong demand: Jobs and Skills Outlook 2024 identifies health care and social assistance as South Australia’s fastest-growing sector, with increasing demand for peer workers and lived experience roles.

  • Purpose-driven career: Transform your personal lived experience into a professional skillset that helps others recover, build resilience, and thrive.

  • Specialised training: Gain the ability to respond to crisis, suicide risk, and co-existing issues, while practicing safely and ethically within trauma-informed, recovery-oriented frameworks.

Career Opportunities

Graduates of this course are prepared for lived experience roles across metropolitan and regional areas, including:

  • Peer Worker

  • Community Support Peer Worker

  • Peer Advocate or Lived Experience Advocate

  • Community Peer Educator

These roles are valued for the insight, empathy, and credibility that lived experience brings to mental health support.

Pathways for Further Study

The Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work can be a pathway to higher-level qualifications, such as:

  • Diploma of Mental Health

  • Diploma of Community Services

  • Specialist qualifications in counselling or alcohol and other drugs

  • Bachelor-level programs in social work, psychology, or human services

Practical Learning and Work Placement

This course combines online learning with classroom-based workshops and real-world experience.

  • Duration: 12 months

  • Study commitment: 15–20 hours per week

  • Classroom sessions: 14 face-to-face days across the year

  • Work placement: 80 hours (mandatory)

Placement details

  • All placements must be approved by AISR to ensure assessment requirements are met.

  • AISR will support you to find a placement and, where possible, may arrange opportunities within Relationships Australia SA programs. However, students should be prepared to secure placements with other organisations.

This structure ensures you graduate with both the confidence and practical skills to step into peer work roles immediately.

This course is nationally recognised and accredited by the Australian Skills Quality Authority.
If you have experience or have studied in a relevant field you may be eligible for Recognition of Prior Learning.

Prerequisites

Learners in this program must have a lived experience of mental health either as direct personal experience or as a carer of someone with mental health lived experience.

Units of Competency

1 Foundations of Mental Health Practice

  • CHCDIV001 Work with diverse people
  • HLTWHS001 Participate in workplace health and safety
  • CHCMHS007 Work effectively in trauma informed care
  • CHCLEG001 Work legally and ethically

2 Client-centred Care and Diversity

  • CHCCCS020 Respond effectively to behaviours of concern
  • CHCCCS003 Increase the safety of individuals at risk of suicide
  • CHCCCS019 Recognise and respond to crisis situations
  • CHCDIV002 Promote Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander cultural safety

3 Peer Work Principles and Practice

  • CHCPWK001 Apply peer work practices in the mental health sector – 80 hour work based practicum
  • CHCPWK003 Apply lived experience in mental health peer work
  • CHCPWK002 Contribute to the continuous improvement of mental health services

4 Advanced Mental Health Support and Advocacy

  • CHCMHS005 Provide services to people with co-existing mental health and alcohol and other drugs issues
  • CHCMHS011 Assess and promote social, emotional and physical wellbeing
  • CHCMHS008 Promote and facilitate self-advocacy
  • CHCADV001 Facilitate the interests and rights of clients

Recognition of prior learning (RPL) credit may be granted for relevant prior study or experience. For more details on the RPL process, visit: RPL page

Fee

$6000 Full Fee
$1200 (Tuition Gap Fee) for participants eligible for SA Government subsidies
$500 (Tuition Fee Gap) for participants eligible for SA Government subsidies with valid concession card
Visit Skills SA to check your eligibility
For more information visit our fees and payments page

Qualification Information Brochure

Course Details

Date: 2 February 2026
Location: Hindmarsh, SA

Nationally Recognised
Training (NRT)

Nationally recognised training (NRT) leads to vocational qualifications and credentials that are recognised across Australia.

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Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge the cultural, spiritual and economic sovereignty of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

We understand that the ongoing violation of this sovereignty continues to harm Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s relationships, health, wellbeing and aspirations.

We are committed to strengthening the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, families and communities.

We recognise that respecting and nurturing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities is a benefit for all Australians.

We especially honour the Kaurna Elders of the Adelaide Plains and the Elders of the River Murray and Mallee Region, which includes: Ngaiawang, Ngawait, Nganguruku, Erawirung, Ngintait, Ngaraite, Ngarkat and small parts of Maraura and Daanggali, and Elders of Barngarla Country in the Far North and Boandik Land in Mount Gambier, upon whose country Relationships Australia South Australia offices are located.

As educators we recognise the Ancient Universities and ways of knowing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have existed for millennia, and we respect and honour First Nations expertise.