Retirement of the 4+2 internship program

You will need to choose an alternative pathway to general registration such as the 5+1 internship pathway or the higher degree pathway. These pathways take the same time to complete as the 4+2 internship - they all take six years from the beginning to the end of training. An online search is available for all approved programs of study.

No. While we understand that unexpected events can change personal circumstances and plans, the 30 June 2022 deadline for applications was a hard deadline. We were aware when planning the retirement of the 4+2 pathway that there would likely be a number of people that would be impacted by its closure. Therefore, sufficient time was given between the announcement of the retirement of the 4+2 internship (April 2019) and the deadline for applications (June 2022) to allow for any students that wanted to follow the 4+2 pathway to apply to do so. Requests for late applications or exemptions will not be considered for any students wishing to apply for the 4+2 internship now that applications have closed, regardless of your personal circumstances.

If you withdrew from your 4+2 internship and no longer hold provisional registration, you will not be able to restart your internship, and will need to choose a different pathway to general registration, such as the 5+1 internship pathway or the higher degree pathway.

We announced the retirement of the 4+2 internship pathway to general registration in April 2019.

On 3 April 2019, the Ministerial Council approved the revised General registration standard and Provisional registration standard removing the 4 +2 internships as a pathway to general registration. The revised standards will take effect on 1 January 2029 – the date of the retirement of the 4+2 internship.

For more information please review:

• Ministerial Council directions and approval
• The Notice of change to the registration standards

The 4+2 internship program is being retired as a pathway to registration in favour of the 5+1 internship program to reduce regulatory burden of psychology training.

The 4+2 internship program is unsustainable as it carries a high regulatory and administrative burden for employers, supervisors, interns, and the regulator. The 4+2 internship is not comparable to international benchmarks for training and registration, and there are significant risks associated with the two-year unaccredited internship.

While the 4+2 internship pathway has a long history of servicing the profession and employers well, and has produced many high-quality practitioners, the pathway is no longer fit-for-purpose in the current or future context. Retirement of the 4+2 internship pathway to general registration is expected to have the following benefits:

• increased public protection
• strengthening risk management
• improved training quality and consistency
• improved international equivalence of training standards
• improved use of accreditation, and
• reduction in costs, administration and burden for trainees, employers, supervisors and the regulator.

In comparison to the 4+2, the 5+1 internship program has the advantage of an additional year of accreditation that provides interns with a better model of training and learning. In addition, there is an administrative and regulatory advantage of the 5+1 through reduced regulatory costs and costs to employers.

Further information about the reasons to retire the 4+2 internship is outlined in the Public consultation paper, available under Past consultations on the Board’s website.

Retirement of the 4+2 internship will not affect your general registration as a psychologist

The retirement of the 4+2 internship as a pathway for general registration is for new registrants only. If the 4+2 internship pathway was recognised as a pathway to registration at the time you were first registered, you will not be affected by retirement of the 4+2, even if you have had a period of non-practicing registration or your registration has lapsed for a period of time.

You will continue to be eligible for general registration under section 53(d) of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law.