← Certificate IV qualifications
Certificate IV in Mental Health
CHC - Community Services
Vocational qualification for mental-health support work in community, residential and outreach settings.
Entry requirements
- Police Check
- Working With Children Check (jurisdiction dependent)
What you will learn
The CHC43315 prepares mental health support workers for community, residential and outreach roles. Core units include working with people with mental health issues, providing services to clients with co-existing mental health and AOD (alcohol and other drugs) issues, applying a trauma-informed approach to work, promoting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural safety, recognising and responding to crisis situations including suicide intervention (ASIST or SafeTALK), and building rapport with clients. You also study the relevant state Mental Health Act, the National Mental Health Standards, and recovery-oriented practice principles aligned with the National Framework for Recovery Oriented Mental Health Services.
Skills you build
- Recovery-oriented practice with mental health consumers
- Trauma-informed care principles
- Suicide intervention and crisis response (ASIST, MHFA)
- Co-occurring AOD assessment basics
- Group facilitation for peer support and psychoeducation
- Documentation under the National Mental Health Standards
- Cultural safety with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consumers
How the course runs
Most students study full-time over 12 months or part-time over 18 to 24 months. Around 500 hours of formal training plus a mandatory minimum 80 hours of supervised work placement. Theory and practical split roughly 60/40. Most learning is case study, simulation and group work rather than hands-on physical practice.
How you will be assessed
- Case study assignments on consumer recovery plans
- Workplace observations during placement
- Written knowledge tests per unit of competency
- Roleplay assessments on crisis response and de-escalation
- Reflective journals on practice experience
Workplace and placement
Minimum 80 hours of supervised work placement in a community mental health service is required. Placements arranged through RTO industry partnerships with state mental health services and large NGOs. You hold a Police Check and Working With Children Check before placement begins. Mental health worker wages are set under the SCHADS Award with shift loadings for overnight residential and outreach work.
Typical employers
- Community mental health services (Headspace, Mind Australia, Stride)
- Public hospital mental health units (support worker roles)
- Aboriginal Community Controlled health organisations
- Youth justice and out-of-home care providers
- Homelessness and housing support services
- Peer support and lived-experience services
Pay after this qualification
$60,000 - $78,000 per year
Source: https://www.jobsandskills.gov.au/explore-careers/occupation/welfare-support-workers. Last reviewed 2026-05-21.
Is this the right course for you?
You probably thrive here if
- You can hold space for difficult conversations
- You can manage your own mental health and self-care
- You can take direction from clinical leaders
- You can document complex consumer journeys
- You can pass a Police Check and Working With Children Check
It is probably not for you if
- You struggle with vicarious trauma exposure
- You cannot keep professional boundaries with clients
- You react emotionally to crisis incidents
- You expect quick recovery outcomes from clients
After you finish
After Cert IV you can progress to the Diploma of Mental Health (CHC53315) for team leader and care coordinator roles, the Diploma of Counselling (CHC51015), or the Diploma of Community Services (CHC52021). Bachelor of Social Work, Bachelor of Behavioural Science, Bachelor of Psychology and Bachelor of Counselling at Charles Sturt, La Trobe, ACAP and others offer entry pathways. Many mental health workers move into peer support specialist roles after their own lived experience develops.