A structured, evidence-based program offers a path to sustained resilience for NDIS psychosocial support workers—but it needs to be embedded, not offered as an afterthought.
Caring for others is one of the most meaningful things a person can do. It is also, without proper support, one of the most costly.
Across Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), a rapidly growing workforce of psychosocial support workers—including disability support workers, psychosocial recovery coaches and lived experience practitioners—is delivering recovery-oriented services to some of the most vulnerable people in the community.
They do this work daily, often in isolation, with limited supervision and against a backdrop of significant systemic pressure. Compassion fatigue is not merely a risk for this workforce. It is an established occupational reality.
The Compassion Fatigue Resiliency Program (CFRP) is one of the most rigorously evaluated responses to that reality, and its relevance to the Australian context has never been more urgent.
Approximately 9% of all Scheme participants as at December 2024.
Year to June 2023.
Approximately three times the rate experienced across the broader Australian workforce.
Projected workforce demand, up from approximately 280,000 workers in May 2023.
What is compassion fatigue?
Compassion fatigue arises from the cumulative emotional cost of sustained empathic engagement with suffering. It has two interrelated components: secondary traumatic stress—the absorption of another person’s trauma through the act of caring—and burnout, the progressive depletion of motivation, energy and meaning in one’s work (Figley, 1995).
Left unaddressed, compassion fatigue can diminish professional judgement, damage therapeutic relationships and accelerate workforce attrition, with direct consequences for the quality and continuity of care received by participants (Pehlivan & Güner, 2020).
Compassion fatigue is not a personal failure
It should not be treated as evidence that a worker is insufficiently resilient. It is a predictable response to sustained emotional demands when those demands are not matched by adequate supervision, peer connection, recovery time and organisational support.
The Australian NDIS context: a uniquely demanding environment
NDIS psychosocial support workers operate in conditions that compound compassion fatigue risk at every level. They work predominantly with people experiencing severe and persistent mental health conditions, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and complex trauma.
Their work involves more than practical daily support. Workers may provide recovery coaching, capacity-building support, systems navigation, crisis assistance and sustained therapeutic relationship-building.
Introduced in July 2020, the psychosocial recovery coach role was specifically designed to provide recovery-oriented, capacity-building support. Many recovery coaches also bring their own lived experience of mental illness, adding a further layer of personal exposure and vulnerability to the role (NDIS, 2020; Elmes et al., 2025).
The structural picture is stark. Australia’s disability support workforce experiences an estimated annual turnover rate of 14–25%, with burnout consistently identified as a leading driver of departure (National Disability Services, 2022).
An Australian study of 251 disability support workers found significant relationships between perceived work stress, compassion fatigue and burnout. Psychological flexibility emerged as an important mediating factor, suggesting that workers’ capacity to respond adaptively to difficult internal experiences may provide a meaningful protective function (Glendenning et al., 2024).
A qualitative study of allied health professionals in the Australian community disability sector also identified NDIS-specific burnout risks not adequately captured in international research. These included geographic remoteness and the complexity of navigating a comparatively young and evolving funding system (Hannan et al., 2025).
The Australian environment presents a unique set of circumstances not frequently considered within international studies, with services provided more remotely than elsewhere in the world and a funding program still in its early years of establishment.Hannan, Kerr and Brown (2025), Disability and Rehabilitation
Beyond the NDIS, the Commonwealth Psychosocial Support Program serves Australians experiencing severe mental health challenges who are not eligible for the NDIS. Workers in this program face comparable emotional demands, often with fewer structural supports.
This means compassion fatigue is not an isolated workforce issue. It is a broader challenge affecting the sustainability of Australia’s community-based psychosocial support system.
What is the CFRP?
The Compassion Fatigue Resiliency Program was developed by Dr J. Eric Gentry, drawing on the Accelerated Recovery Program co-developed with Professor Charles Figley in 1997 and widely recognised as an early evidence-based treatment protocol for compassion fatigue.
Delivered as a structured 10-hour intervention across five weeks, the CFRP equips participants to recognise compassion fatigue, develop self-regulation skills, build a personalised resilience plan and establish a professional moral compass (Pehlivan et al., 2023).
Recognition
Workers learn to identify the emotional, behavioural, cognitive and physical signs of compassion fatigue before they become overwhelming.
Self-regulation
Participants develop practical skills for regulating physiological arousal and remaining grounded during emotionally demanding work.
Resilience planning
Workers create an individualised plan that supports recovery, sustainable boundaries, connection and continued professional wellbeing.
Professional moral compass
Participants clarify the values, responsibilities and ethical principles that guide their work and protect against moral distress.
Each component maps directly to the needs of the NDIS psychosocial workforce. Recognition skills are critical for workers with limited formal mental health training who may operate in low-supervision environments.
Self-regulation addresses the demands of engaging with participants experiencing crisis or complex presentations. Resilience planning supports sustainable, self-directed practice, while a professional moral compass aligns with the expectations established by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission’s practice standards.
What does the evidence show?
Research investigating the CFRP and related psychological interventions indicates improvements in professional quality of life, resilience, perceived stress, burnout and worker wellbeing.
| Year / Design | Study | Key finding |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 · Randomised controlled trial |
Pehlivan & Güner Journal of Advanced Nursing | In a study involving 125 nurses, the CFRP improved professional quality of life, reduced perceived stress and increased resilience at 12-month follow-up. |
| 2022 · Qualitative study |
Pehlivan & Güner Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing | Peer interaction was identified as a key mechanism of benefit. Collegial connection generated meaningful social and emotional support. |
| 2022 · Quasi-experimental study |
Pehlivan Sarıbudak & Çepni Seminars in Oncology Nursing | The CFRP reduced burnout and stress among nurses working in COVID-19 units. Longer-term effects weakened without continued reinforcement. |
| 2023 · Mixed-methods study |
Pehlivan Sarıbudak et al. Journal of Nursing Care Quality | Improved nurse wellbeing occurred alongside higher patient care satisfaction, suggesting that workforce resilience can flow through to service quality. |
| 2024 · Systematic review and meta-analysis |
Sarıbudak et al. Health Psychology Open | Across 82 studies, resilience and psychoeducational programs were among the most effective approaches. Effects were strongest when interventions were embedded and repeated. |
Why the peer connection finding matters most for NDIS workers
Across multiple studies, one of the most consistently reported mechanisms of benefit is peer interaction—the experience of connecting with colleagues who share similar challenges and understand the emotional landscape of the work.
This is particularly significant for NDIS psychosocial support workers, who frequently operate alone in community settings without regular access to peer consultation or clinical supervision.
The CFRP’s group delivery model does not simply teach isolated coping skills. It creates a structured peer community that may otherwise be largely absent from workers’ daily experience.
Connection is part of the intervention
Peer connection should not be viewed as an optional social benefit. It provides validation, shared understanding, opportunities for reflection and protection against the professional isolation that can intensify compassion fatigue.
Mindfulness, yoga and the CFRP: a natural alignment
The CFRP’s self-regulation component draws on practices that have strong resonance with mindfulness-based approaches, including somatic awareness, present-moment attention and cultivating a compassionate relationship with one’s own stress response.
Research indicates that mindfulness-based interventions can provide an effective adjunct to resilience training for helping professionals (Sarıbudak et al., 2024).
When integrated into workforce wellbeing programs, yoga and mindfulness practices address both the physiological and psychological dimensions of compassion fatigue. They may support nervous-system regulation, improve interoceptive awareness and foster the self-compassion that is foundational to sustained caring work.
For psychosocial support workers in particular, relational presence is one of their primary therapeutic tools. Embodied practices offer a way to replenish the very capacity they draw on most.
A policy window is open
Australia’s evolving psychosocial support landscape presents an opportunity to make structured workforce resilience a core part of service delivery rather than an optional addition.
The Commonwealth Psychosocial Support Program’s 2024–2027 funding allocation includes funding for sector capacity-building. Primary Health Networks, which fund and coordinate community psychosocial services, are well-positioned to facilitate CFRP delivery as part of broader workforce development packages.
The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission’s practice standards also create an expectation that providers maintain a capable, supported and appropriately trained workforce.
The policy architecture is taking shape. What is needed now is the willingness to use it to support sustained, evidence-informed investment in worker wellbeing.
What meaningful implementation could look like
The evidence does not support treating resilience as a single workshop or an individual employee’s responsibility. A meaningful CFRP implementation model would include facilitated group delivery, protected attendance time, regular peer reflection, leadership participation and structured refresher sessions.
The program should sit alongside—not replace—manageable workloads, quality supervision, clear organisational boundaries and safe workplace systems.
The bottom line
Australia’s NDIS psychosocial support workforce is performing some of the most emotionally demanding work in the human services sector under structural conditions that elevate compassion fatigue risk at every turn.
The CFRP is one of the field’s most well-evidenced tools for building the resilience required to sustain this work and protect the quality of recovery-oriented support participants deserve.
Embedding the program as a recurring, institutionally supported intervention is not merely an employee wellbeing initiative. It is an investment in workforce stability, participant safety, relationship-based practice and the long-term sustainability of psychosocial support.
References
- Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. (2024). Commonwealth Psychosocial Support Program. View source .
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2023). People with disability in Australia. AIHW.
- Elmes, A., Campain, R., Brown, C., & Wilson, E. (2025). Psychosocial recovery coaching and the NDIS: Outcomes and alignment with the CHIME-D framework. Community Mental Health Journal, 61(7). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-025-01477-6
- Figley, C. R. (1995). Compassion fatigue: Coping with secondary traumatic stress disorder in those who treat the traumatized. Brunner/Mazel.
- Glendenning, A., Klas, A., & Campbell, A. (2024). Work stress and professional quality of life in disability support workers. Disability and Rehabilitation, 46(3), 425–437. https://doi.org/10.3109/13668250.2024.2323204
- Hannan, E., Kerr, D., & Brown, T. (2025). Burnout in allied health professionals in the Australian community disability sector under the NDIS. Disability and Rehabilitation, 47(9), 6122–6134. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2025.2476022
- National Disability Insurance Scheme. (2020). Psychosocial recovery coach (Version 1.1). NDIA.
- National Disability Insurance Scheme. (2025). Quarterly report to disability ministers: Quarter 2 2024–25. NDIA.
- National Disability Services. (2022). Disability sector workforce retention. NDS.
- Pehlivan, T., & Güner, P. (2020). Effect of a CFRP on nurses’ professional quality of life, perceived stress and resilience: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 76(12), 3584–3596. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14568
- Pehlivan, T., & Güner, P. (2022). Oncology-hematology nurses’ perspectives on the CFRP: A qualitative study. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 53(7), 329–336. https://doi.org/10.3928/00220124-20220603-09
- Pehlivan Sarıbudak, T., & Çepni, B. (2022). Effect of a CFRP on nurses working in COVID-19 units. Seminars in Oncology Nursing, 38(4), 151546. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soncn.2023.151546
- Pehlivan Sarıbudak, T., Güner, P., & Çepni, B. (2023). CFRP effects on oncology-hematology nurses: A mixed-methods study. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 38(4), 367–373. https://doi.org/10.1097/NCQ.0000000000000714
- Sarıbudak, T. P., Mendes, A., Pinto, S., & Crespo, M. (2024). Effectiveness of psychological interventions for compassion fatigue: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Health Psychology Open, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/20551029241293003
- Zubrzycki, J., & Crawford, F. (2025). The future of psychosocial supports in Australia. Community Mental Health Journal, 61(7), 1294–1298. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-025-01467-8