Did you know? Government funding is available for neurodivergent leadership development

A growing number of leaders here in Australia have been asking me about using their Job Access funding to pay for my services.

When the same question turns up repeatedly it usually means there's a real, unspoken need. In this case, there's actually a great answer: yes, there is government support available to pay for training and coaching for neurodivergent leaders. Let me step you through what it is and how to access it.

What's actually available

The Australian Government, through a Job Access program called the Employment Assistance Fund (EAF), can help cover the cost of workplace-related support for people with an ongoing disability or condition — including ADHD, autism, and other conditions that affect how someone works. This isn't a new program, but it's not well known outside disability employment circles, which is part of why the same question keep coming up. The current guidelines, funding caps and eligibility rules are all set out in the EAF Guidelines, June 2026 (PDF).

What's useful here is that the EAF doesn't just cover equipment or physical workplace modifications. It specifically includes funding for specialised support and training for people with a mental health condition or specific learning disorder, and separately, awareness training for the colleagues and organisations around them. That maps onto the two kinds of requests I've been getting — from individuals wanting support for themselves, and from HR and DEI teams wanting to build a more capable, neuroinclusive workplace.

If you're an individual leader, EAF funding can go toward structured, workplace-focused development — such as 1:1 coaching or mentoring, a structured leadership development plan, support to have a better conversation with your manager about what you need, or a session that brings you and your manager onto the same page. The focus tends to be practical: executive functioning, prioritisation, communication, and the day-to-day realities of leading, rather than generic leadership theory. (Here's one example of what this looks like in practice: The EAF Leadership Package.)

If you're representing an organisation, the equivalent is awareness training — typically a session, delivered in person or online, aimed at building a more neuroinclusive team or workplace. This can run in different ways: focused on a specific team working alongside someone with a diagnosed or self-identified condition, or run more broadly as general education across an organisation about neurodivergent strengths at work, without singling anyone out. One rule worth knowing: this particular category of funding requires the training to be delivered by someone external to the organisation who holds a recognised training qualification — not coaching experience or lived experience alone. (Here's one example of what this looks like in practice: Awareness Training.)

Why this is worth acting on now

The application itself takes time, regardless of who you end up working with. You'll need to collect evidence of the condition, a quote from your chosen provider, and then there's JobAccess's own assessment window. So the earlier you start, the sooner any funded support can actually begin.

If this is something you or your organisation have been meaning to look into, there's very little reason to put off the first step.

Kathryn Martens