March 2025

Connections

Issue 42 - March 2025

From the Chair
Priority news
- Ahpra appoints new CEO
- Annual report shows progress in addressing workforce needs
Board news
What’s new?
Keep in touch with the Board

From the Chair

Rachel Phillips

Welcome to the first Psychology Board of Australia newsletter for 2025.

This year, the Board is focusing on the implementation of the Professional competencies for psychologists and the Code of conduct.

We look forward to working with registrants and stakeholders as the 1 December 2025 implementation date approaches.

Rachel Phillips
Chair, Psychology Board of Australia

Priority news

Ahpra appoints new CEO

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) has appointed Justin Untersteiner as Chief Executive Officer.

Justin, who will join Ahpra in April, brings over 20 years’ experience in regulation and compliance, most recently as Chief Operating Officer at the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).

Ahpra Board Chair Gill Callister PSM said that Justin was an impressive leader who stood out in a field of domestic and international candidates.

‘Justin’s experience in leading change and bringing new approaches, combined with his knowledge of regulation and compliance, made him a standout candidate,’ she said.

‘Justin’s appointment marks an exciting new chapter for Ahpra, and the Board is looking forward to working with him to build the next phase of Australia’s health regulation system.’

Justin succeeds Martin Fletcher, who completed his final term as CEO in December 2024.

Learn more about Ahpra’s incoming CEO.

Annual report shows progress in addressing workforce needs

Addressing workforce needs by getting more health practitioners safely registered faster and responding to new risks from emerging models of care are the highlights of the 2023/24 Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) annual report.

Read the Board report and statistics on the Board’s Annual report webpage.

Board news

National Board appointments: meet our new members

The National Board is made up of 12 members who are appointed by the Ministerial Council. Eight members must be registered psychologists − one from each state and territory. Four additional members are appointed as community members and bring a public perspective to the work of the Board. Members are appointed for a three-year term and can serve up to three consecutive terms.

In December 2024 we welcomed six new members to the National Board:

Professor Judi Walker, community member, Tasmania
Ms Susan Benedyka, community member, Victoria
Ms Tahnee McBean, practitioner member, Victoria
Professor Christopher Willcox, practitioner member, New South Wales
Mr Costa Loucopoulos, community member, New South Wales
Mr Sean Hambrook, practitioner member, Australian Capital Territory.

These new members bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Board. Read more about them, and our returning members on our Board members page.

We wish to acknowledge and thank outgoing members Professor Kathryn Von Treuer, Ms Vanessa Hamilton, Dr Jennifer Thornton, Ms Marion Hale, Professor Petrina Coventry, Dr Robyn Vines, and Mr Christopher Joseph for their substantial contributions during their Board terms.

Have your say on the guidelines for the national psychology exam

We are reviewing the Guidelines for the national psychology exam (the exam guidelines) and want your feedback on our proposed updates.

The proposed changes include:

ensuring the exam guidelines reference the recently updated Professional competencies for psychologists
introducing an exemption from sitting the exam for some internationally trained applicants for registration, in line with the recommendations from the Final report of the independent review of overseas health practitioner regulatory settings (the Kruk review), and
generally updating and refreshing the exam guidelines in line with good regulatory practice.

The exam guidelines were last reviewed in 2019, so it’s time to update them to ensure they remain relevant for current and future psychology practice.

We invite practitioners, members of the community, employers and other stakeholders to give feedback on our proposal. We are particularly keen to hear from people who are required to sit the exam, such as provisional psychologists, students in fifth-year programs, internationally qualified psychologists, and their supervisors.

The consultation paper is available on the Board website and explains how to provide your feedback.

Submissions must be received by close of business on Monday 24 March 2025.

Latest workforce data released

The Board’s latest quarterly registration data report covers the period to 31 December 2024. At this date, there were 48,560 registered psychologists, including 39,717 with general registration, 6,815 with provisional registration and 2,028 with non-practising registration.

There were 408 practitioners who identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, or 0.8 per cent of the profession.

For further data breakdowns by division, age, gender and principal place of practice, visit the Board’s Statistics page to read the report.

What’s new?

Research provides clues to boost health workforce retention

Most Australian health practitioners surveyed say they want to stay in their profession, however more than one in 10 are unsure about their future or have plans to leave within a year, with mental burnout a key reason why.

New research from Ahpra, published in the Australian Health Review, identifies the factors driving practitioners’ choices to stay or leave the health workforce, across nine regulated health professions.

Despite a regulated workforce of 920,535 health practitioners in 2024, forecasts predict that the sector will struggle to meet the demands of Australia’s growing and ageing population in coming years.

Ahpra’s Workforce Retention and Attrition Project found the top five reasons influencing practitioners to leave their profession included mental burnout, retirement, feeling undervalued/unrecognised, lack of professional satisfaction, and work no longer being fulfilling.

Chair of the Psychology Board of Australia and Co-convener of the Forum of National Registration and Accreditation Scheme Chairs, Rachel Phillips said improvements in these areas could have a major impact on increasing retention in the health workforce and, importantly, improving the health and wellbeing of practitioners.

‘A resilient health workforce is essential to keeping our communities safe, healthy and growing, and the wellbeing of our practitioners goes hand-in-hand with that,’ she said.

‘These findings highlight the importance of a working environment that is both professionally fulfilling and supportive of practitioner wellbeing – not only for the welfare of our valued practitioners themselves, but also the health needs of the patients they care for.’

Health practitioner regulators united: family violence is unacceptable

Australia’s health practitioner regulators are united in their view that family violence is unacceptable.

For the first time ever, these regulators issued a joint statement reminding practitioners of the critical contribution they can make in Australia’s response to tackling family violence.

The statement recognises the role of regulators in the collective effort to end family violence by supporting victim-survivors, setting clear expectations of health practitioners, taking regulatory action as appropriate and condemning all forms of family violence.

Health practitioners are often the first point of contact for victim-survivors, so play an essential role in the early detection, support, referral, and delivery of specialised treatment to those experiencing family violence.

Health practitioners are also reminded that their own conduct, as well as that of their colleagues, must reflect the trust and confidence the public have in them for safe and effective healthcare. Regulators work to ensure health practitioners are safe, ethical, and professional for the protection of the public.

Family violence is a serious crime and a violation of human rights. It is a gross departure from the ethical standards of behaviour expected of health practitioners. Health practitioners who are perpetrators of family violence could face suspension, cancellation, the imposition of conditions, or refusal of registration.

As regulators we are committed to minimising the risk of adding to victim-survivors’ trauma or exposing them to further risk of harm. We seek to respond to victim-survivors’ complaints about health practitioners in a trauma-informed way. This means prioritising the safety and dignity of victim-survivors and respectfully and sensitively supporting them through the health complaint management process.

We encourage any person aware of a health practitioner perpetrating family violence to provide information to the police and appropriate regulatory body. A list of health practitioner regulator contact details, as well as police, family violence information and support services, is included in the joint position statement.

Read the media release.

More flexible English language pathways for practitioners registering in Australia

Ahpra and the National Boards (except for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board) have published advance copies of the updated English language skills (ELS) registration standards which see several changes to simplify English language requirements while maintaining public safety. The updated common standard applies to 13 of the 16 registered professions, including psychology. The Nursing and Midwifery Board has its own version.

Previously, practitioners who had trained or lived extensively in seven recognised English-speaking countries – including the UK, USA and New Zealand – did not automatically have to sit an English language test to be registered in Australia. Under the revised standard the list of recognised English-speaking countries has been expanded to 30 nations and territories, cutting red tape for qualified practitioners.

After careful consideration in the most recent review, South Africa will no longer be a recognised country, bringing it into line with the Department of Home Affairs. The review found that qualifications across the professions are offered in South Africa at various institutions with different entry requirements, many of these substantially below the equivalent Australian entry level ELS requirements. It was also found that some have no English minimum requirements for entry. To ensure a reasonable transition for applicants, there will be a 12-month transition period for this change to come into effect.

The updated ELS standards also have changes to the current English language test pathway including:

reducing the writing component score for the approved English language tests from IELTS 7 to 6.5 (or equivalent) in all professions
adding the Cambridge English Language Skills test
extending timeframes for accepting a combined result from two tests from six months to 12 months, and
widening the grounds for extending the validity of English language test results to include continuously working in appropriate roles in recognised countries.

When do I need to make a notification as a treating practitioner?

When treating a practitioner who has a health, mental health, or drug or alcohol issue, you only need to notify Ahpra if you think their health, performance or conduct may be putting the public at substantial risk of harm.

While mandatory notifications are an important part of our regulatory process to keep patients and the public safe, they are not necessary in most cases.

There are four concerns that may trigger a mandatory notification. Depending on the type of concern, you must assess the risk of harm to the public when deciding whether to make a mandatory notification. The four concerns are:

impairment
intoxication while practising
significant departure from accepted professional standards
sexual misconduct.

When it comes to impairment, as long as the practitioner you’re treating won’t pose a substantial risk to the public, is managing their condition, and getting the help they need to practise safely, then you don’t need to make a notification to Ahpra.

Seeking help when they need it is the best thing that a practitioner can do, and you can play an important role in supporting them to continue to practise safely and ensure their patients continue to receive safe care.

Find out more about making a mandatory notification.

Keep in touch with the Board

Visit the Psychology Board website for information on the National Scheme and for the mandatory registration standards, codes, guidelines, policies and fact sheets.
Lodge an enquiry form via the website by following the Contact us link on the bottom of every page.
For registration enquiries call 1300 419 495 (from within Australia) or +61 3 9125 3010 (for overseas callers).
Address mail correspondence to: Rachel Phillips, Chair, Psychology Board of Australia, GPO Box 9958, Melbourne VIC 3001.