Professional competencies for psychologists released

07 Aug 2024

Advance copies of the Professional competencies for psychology are now available on the Psychology Board of Australia website, fifteen months ahead of their implementation on 1 December 2025.

The competencies were last updated in 2010, and have been refreshed to:

• strengthen cultural safety in line with the changes to the National Law, including the paramount importance of public protection and the cultural safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
• provide more detail about our requirements for working with diverse groups
• incorporate essential elements that are currently missing, including information about self-care, reflexive practice, and digital health practice
• improve alignment with international benchmarks.

Board Chair Rachel Phillips said the competencies set out the knowledge, skills, abilities, behaviours, values, and other attributes required to allow an individual to practise safely and effectively as a psychologist.

‘We have updated the competencies for general registration to ensure they continue to be relevant and useful for practitioners, and are an effective regulatory tool to ensure safe and effective psychology practice.’

Ms Phillips said the Board partenered closely with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander psychologiest and psychology groups on developing competencies for culturally safe and trauma-informed care.

‘We hope that these competencies will assist to close the gap and ensure that psychologists have the required competencies to deliver culturally safe, accessible and responsive care, free of racism’.

Along with the professional competencies the Board has published new resources including fact sheets and frequently asked questions that help explain the competencies that have undergone the most change.

A new self-assessment tool has also been developed to assist psychologists to self-assess against the updated competencies and plan their continuing professional development.

‘We encourage psychologists to use this tool to ensure they meet the competencies relevant to their scope of practice”.

The new resources can be found on the professional practice standards page of the Board’s website.

Ministerial Council has approved removing the current competencies from the Provisional and general registration standards to take effect on the same date, 1 December 2025.

The current competencies for general registration will continue to be used until the updated competencies take effect.

For more information

• Visit the professional practice standards page of the Board’s website
• For registration enquiries: 1300 419 495 (within Australia)
• To make an online enquiry complete our web enquiry form
• For media enquiries: (03) 8708 9200