The trail
Six turns, in the order most people meet the questions. Each one answers its question in its first lines, then goes into the detail.
What life coaching is, and what it isn’t
Coaching is not among the health professions Ahpra registers. Here is what that does and doesn’t tell you.
Coach, psychologist or counsellor?
“Psychologist” is a title protected by law; coaching is not a registered profession. The titles side by side.
Checking a coach before you start
A checklist for the price, the sessions and the agreement, and what the law says about claims a business makes.
Your rights when you pay for a service
Services come with consumer guarantees: due care and skill, fitness for a stated purpose, and a reasonable time.
When coaching isn’t the right help
Where health support starts, and the support lines as their own organisations print them.
Contracts and cooling-off
Cooling-off rights come with telemarketing and door-to-door sales, not with every purchase. How the 10 business days count.
Four notes from the official pages
The short version of what the sources say, before you take the trail.
- Ahpra
- The law protects the titles of every profession Ahpra registers.
- Psychology Board of Australia
- General registration is what allows a psychologist to use the title “Psychologist”.
- ACCC
- The consumer guarantees come with goods and services automatically. Nobody has to grant them.
- ACCC
- Buying from a shop or a website doesn’t, on its own, give you a cooling-off period.
If you need help now
In an emergency, call triple zero (000).
Lifeline’s crisis line is 13 11 14. More support lines, each checked on its own organisation’s site, are on the page when coaching isn’t the right help.
