Overseen by Peter Saltamaras, Co-Founder and COO of Lanara · Last reviewed 15 October 2026

Lanara provides psychology-informed NDIS support for adults living with anxiety across Sydney, including agoraphobia and social anxiety. We support self-managed and plan-managed NDIS participants, as well as private clients.

Is anxiety covered by the NDIS?

Anxiety can be covered by the NDIS, but a diagnosis alone is not enough. The NDIA decides, and it looks at your impairment rather than your diagnosis.

To meet the disability requirements, your impairment must be likely to be permanent and substantially reduce your ability to do everyday activities. The NDIA also looks at its effect on work, study or social life, and whether you’ll need NDIS support for life.

When anxiety does lead to NDIS access, it is usually considered under psychosocial disability. The NDIA describes this as reduced capacity for daily tasks because of your mental health. Anxiety disorders are not on the NDIA’s lists of conditions likely to meet the requirements, so each application rests on its own evidence.

To be honest, many people living with anxiety will not meet the NDIS access requirements. The NDIA weighs severity, permanence and functional impact, usually after appropriate treatment has been tried. It does recognise that the impact can go up and down.

If the NDIS isn’t the right fit, other good starting points include:

  • Your GP, who may prepare a mental health treatment plan. This covers some of the cost of up to 10 sessions of mental health treatment each year.
  • Medicare Mental Health, a free government service on 1800 595 212, with no referral or diagnosis needed.

From January 2028, eligibility for new applicants will be decided using a new standardised assessment of functional capacity. See the NDIA’s eligibility checklist and Applying to the NDIS guideline.

How anxiety can affect daily life

Anxiety disorders affect 1 in 4 Australians at some stage in their life. For some people, anxiety quietly shapes almost every part of the day.

  • Leaving the house, catching a bus or walking into a busy shop can feel out of reach.
  • Appointments get booked and then cancelled, or never booked at all.
  • Calls, emails and letters pile up unopened.
  • Poor sleep and slipping routines make cooking and keeping house harder.
  • Friendships fade when invitations are turned down again and again.
  • Work or study becomes hard to start or keep up.

It is different for everyone and often changes over time. A harder week after a good one is not a failure.

Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia is a fear of places that feel hard to leave, or where help might not be close. Public transport, crowds and queues are common examples. Avoiding them can shrink someone’s world to a few streets, or to home.

Support here usually means small, planned outings with a familiar person, never rushed.

Social anxiety

Social anxiety disorder, also called social phobia, is an intense fear of being judged or embarrassed in ordinary situations. Eating in public, speaking up or being watched while doing something can feel overwhelming. People may skip events, or replay conversations long afterwards.

Support here can mean practising small interactions together, like ordering a coffee or making a phone call.

How our support can help

Every Lanara support worker holds a university degree in psychology or a related discipline, and has completed mental health and trauma-informed training. We match carefully and aim for the same support worker each time, because a familiar face matters with anxiety.

Our support is practical and goes at your pace:

We don’t want you to rely on us forever. Where it fits your treating team’s advice, your support worker gradually steps back as your confidence grows.

If someone new in your home feels daunting, that is very common. Our post on overcoming anxiety about having a support worker in your home explains what to expect.

An example: Priya’s first steps back outside

Example from our work. Names and details are changed to protect people’s privacy.

Priya is 34 and lives in Dulwich Hill. Panic attacks and agoraphobia mean she rarely leaves her flat, and she has missed several GP appointments. Her goal is to do her own shopping again.

Her support worker started with sessions at home, sorting mail and planning meals. After a few weeks, they walked to the end of the street together. Later, they visited the supermarket early on a weekday, when it was quiet.

Some weeks Priya didn’t feel up to going out, so they stayed in and worked on her shopping list instead. A few months on, she does a small shop while her worker waits outside. She is working towards going alone, at a pace agreed with her psychologist.

Working alongside your treating team

Lanara is not a clinical service. We don’t provide therapy or diagnosis, and our support workers are not psychologists, even though they hold psychology degrees.

Looking for a social anxiety therapist in the Eastern Suburbs? A psychologist is the right person for treatment, and your GP can help you find one. We offer something different: regular, practical support between appointments, in the places where anxiety shows up. Many people have both.

We work alongside your GP, psychiatrist, psychologist, occupational therapist and support coordinator. With your consent, our team can share what your support worker sees day to day.

If you take medication, a support worker can remind you and sit with you while you take it. They never handle or administer it.

Getting started

  1. Call us on 1300 152 627 or contact us online.
  2. We send you an intake form and a service agreement.
  3. We match you with a support worker. This usually takes between 3 days and 2 weeks.
  4. Your meet-and-greet is your first session. It lasts at least 2 hours and is paid like any other session.
  5. Regular sessions begin, ideally with the same worker each time.

We support adults across six areas of Sydney, including the Inner West and the Eastern Suburbs. We support self-managed and plan-managed NDIS participants, as well as private clients. We can’t support NDIA-managed plans.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Is anxiety covered by the NDIS?

A: It can be, if the NDIA decides your anxiety causes a permanent impairment that substantially reduces your ability to manage daily life. A diagnosis alone is not enough, and many people with anxiety will not be eligible.

Q: Is anxiety a psychosocial disability?

A: Anxiety is a mental health condition. The NDIA uses “psychosocial disability” to describe reduced capacity for daily activities because of mental health. Severe, long-lasting anxiety can lead to psychosocial disability, but not everyone with anxiety has one. Our guide to psychosocial disability explains more.

Q: Can the NDIS help with anxiety and depression together?

A: Yes, if together they lead to an impairment that meets the access requirements. The NDIA looks at one or more impairments and their impact on daily life, so your evidence should describe both.

Q: Can a support worker help me leave the house?

A: Yes. Going out together, at a pace you choose, is a common part of our social and community participation support.

If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 000. For urgent mental health advice, call the NSW Mental Health Line on 1800 011 511 (24 hours, 7 days) or Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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