Revised general registration standard takes effect from today

02 May 2016

The Psychology Board of Australia’s revised registration standard for general registration takes effect today and replaces the previous version dated 1 July 2010.

The Psychology Board of Australia’s revised registration standard for general registration takes effect today and replaces the previous version dated 1 July 2010.

The general registration standard defines the qualification and eligibility requirements that psychologists need to meet to obtain and maintain general registration in the profession. The revised standard continues to recognise all the different pathways to general registration. The revisions primarily improve the structure, update the terminology to explain existing requirements more clearly, and align the standard more closely with the requirements of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law.

The revised standard is available on the Registration standards page.

In reviewing and revising the standard a public consultation paper was published which is available under Past consultations together with submissions received. The Board wishes to thank everyone who contributed a submission - feedback from the profession, government, education providers, employers and the public is invaluable in developing and revising the standards that shape the profession.

Following public consultation, the Board submitted a proposed revised standard to the Australian Health Workforce Ministerial Council and the standard was approved by Ministers on 6 November 2015 with approval taking effect from today.

In the period since the proposed standard was approved, the Board and AHPRA have been working to ensure there is a smooth implementation and transition to the revised standard. This included advance publication of the revised standard on 15 February 2016 to allow plenty of time for the revisions to be reviewed before they came into effect. The Board has also developed and published a revised policy for higher degree students applying for general registration, a number of updated application and reporting forms, FAQ on the revised registration standard, and fact sheets for affected registrants.

There are no changes to renewal requirements, so psychologists who already have general registration will not be affected.

Applicants for general registration on completion of a recognised postgraduate degree will not be affected – there have been some updates to how the postgraduate pathways are set out in the standard but the application processes and educational requirements have not changed.

There will be some small changes to the existing requirements for applicants for general registration on completion of a period of supervised practice which are outlined in new fact sheets for current 4+2 and 5+1 interns.

For more information

• Lodge an online enquiry form
• For registration enquiries: 1300 419 495 (within Australia) +61 3 9275 9009 (overseas callers)
• For media enquiries: (03) 8708 9200