Peer Support is offered by and for people with similar experiences or identities.

The support offered can be practical help, emotional support, listening, exchanging information, learning from each other, and pooling resources (e.g. sharing costs).

Peer support can help people in various ways. It can help people to grow confidence, feel accepted and valued, adjust and adapt to change, increase knowledge, resources and skills, cope better with distress or adversity, make positive life changes and have stronger social connections.

Examples of situations where peer support can help:

• Between clients/consumers of services within the health, mental health, disability, housing and community sectors

• Between members of the LGBTIA+ community

• Between people from a similar cultural background

• Between parents

• Between students

• Between people with shared occupational experiences (e.g. frontline emergency personnel, veterans, doctors)

Find out more about the services we offer to help grow peer support.

Peer workers can be paid staff, volunteers or they can be self-employed.

Peer workers may offer Peer Support (be a ‘Peer Support Worker’) or use their lived experience in other ways. Examples include peer educators, peer researchers, peer support workers and lived experience advocates.

Peer workers bring a blend of lived experience, peer values, and their own additional knowledge and skills (including peer support skills) to perform their role.

The peer workforce is a unique, growing occupation and there is a desire for more access to peer workers by people using government and community services.

By working together as individuals, peer workers, employers and government, we can grow and sustain a vibrant, valued peer workforce in Western Australia.