Code of conduct

The APS Code of Ethics has served the purpose of a regulatory code since 2010. We will continue to use this code while we transition to the new code of conduct. Psychologists currently have a mandatory obligation to practice in accordance with the APS Code of Ethics – this is a requirement of their registration. Once the code of conduct for psychologists comes into effect on 1 December 2025, this obligation will transfer to the new code of conduct. Psychologists will need to familiarise themselves with the advance copy during this transition period and ensure compliance with these practice standards when it comes into effect on 1 December 2025.

The Board’s code of conduct has been developed via a rigorous process involving expert input and widespread stakeholder consultation. Psychologists and members of the community were invited to have their say during the code’s development. This means the new code of conduct reflects the standards expected of a psychologist’s peers and the broader community, which is a fundamental requirement of a regulatory code in the National Scheme. 

In partnership with Ahpra, the Board regulates psychologists to protect the health and safety of the public. As part of this role, we ensure that only psychologists meeting minimum standards are registered. Codes are key documents which establish those standards. When a psychologist departs from the standards in the code, we might take regulatory action to protect the public from harm. Codes are admissible in legal proceedings as evidence of what constitutes appropriate professional conduct or practice for the profession.

To be an effective regulatory instrument, a code of conduct must explicitly set out the standards reasonably expected of the practitioner by both their professional peers and the community. An effective regulatory code allows psychologists and the public to easily recognise when conduct or behaviour departs from these standards, and assists the Board in its regulatory role by setting the expectations against which we can evaluate a psychologist’s conduct.

The code of conduct for psychologists reflects the long-established, universally-accepted principles of good psychological practice, as set out in the International Declaration of Ethical Principles for Psychologists.

While the APS Code of Ethics will no longer be used by the Board after 1 December 2025, it will continue to be a valuable resource in guiding psychologists in their practice and ensuring high-quality psychological services are provided to the community. Other regulated health professions have Board-authored codes of conduct which work together with professional association ethical codes (e.g. Medicine and Pharmacy). Professional associations play a key role in educating their members and providing resources to help them maintain high standards of ethical conduct and practice. The Board’s role is to protect the public, which we do by enforcing minimum standards set out in our registration standards, codes, and guidelines.

At the start of the National Scheme, we decided to adopt the APS Code of Ethics rather than introducing our own code of conduct. We did this because the Code of Ethics was already familiar to psychologists and had been embedded in psychological practice in Australia for decades. We considered that introducing a new code in 2010 would make the transition from state-based to national regulation more disruptive for psychologists, who were already experiencing a lot of change in regulatory requirements. We said at the time that we would develop a code of conduct at a later point.

The original rationale for adopting the APS Code of Ethics no longer holds. The Board had delayed developing a code of conduct to focus on other key regulatory reform priorities (e.g., retirement of the 4+2 pathway) and because the APS Code of Ethics has been working effectively as a regulatory instrument. The APS were reviewing their Code of Ethics for the first time since 2007, which prompted us to consider if it was time to develop our own regulatory code of conduct.

The Board has legislative obligations to conduct robust governance processes when it develops and reviews standards, codes, and guidelines, and must ensure widespread consultation with a range of stakeholders. Therefore, it is important that the Board continues to have the responsibility for developing and reviewing the code that it uses. Preparing our code of conduct at the same time the APS reviewed its code was a timely opportunity to consider how the two codes would work together in the future. 

Psychology is the only regulated health profession that does not have a Board-authored code of conduct. Health Ministers have asked Ahpra and the National Boards to work together to ensure that registration requirements align across the professions as closely as possible. Most professions in the National Scheme have a shared code of conduct, which underwent a comprehensive review recently. The revised shared code came into effect in 2022. This presented a good opportunity for the Board to establish a code that built on the extensive research and evidence considered in reviewing the shared code, as well as the learnings from stakeholder consultation and user testing occurring as part of that review. We sought to align the psychology code of conduct with the shared code as much as possible, acknowledging some elements would need to differ to address the nuances of psychological practice. Consistency in regulatory approaches across the health professions supports inter-professional practice and facilitates community and practitioner understanding.