The Federal Government released the Job-ready Graduates Package on 19 June this year. Concerns about the shift in funding from the Federal Government to students focused initially on the humanities. However, it quickly became very clear that undergraduate psychology courses would also be adversely affected due to a dramatic decrease in the Government’s contribution to the training of professional psychologists, coupled with a significant cost increase to students seeking to join the profession; all in the midst of a global pandemic. For many people, these changes raised issues about how universities are funded to train students and how such shifts could take place, seemingly at the stroke of a pen?
This article seeks to answer these questions for the readers of InPsych and in so doing demonstrate the initial impact of the Job-ready Graduates Package in terms of shifting the costs of training, and finally set out the impacts of the changes to the Package negotiated by various groups, including the Heads of Department and Schools of Psychology Association (HODSPA) and the Australian Psychological Society (APS).
“Given that university funding is based upon subjects taken, then those other disciplines receive income because a student pursuing psychology is taking subjects in their programs”
Subjects, programs and professional training
How many students are doing psychology at university? This is a simple enough question, but one that is difficult to answer. The Government funds universities on the basis of students doing subjects1 not degrees. Thus, while it is easy to report the load in psychology across the university sector2 (28,082 EFTSL3 in 2018), this load comprises all students doing psychology subjects, not just those pursuing a named degree in psychology. The number includes students who are studying business, biology, chemistry, communications, creative arts, criminology, education, physics, sociology, and many other programs. Programs in psychology are accredited by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC). At the undergraduate level, accredited psychology sequences can be found in generalist three-year degree programs such as Arts, Health and Science, as well as in specialist Bachelor of Psychology programs.
Unlike the other professions covered by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), undergraduate psychology is not a ‘silo’. Indeed, many universities benefit enormously from students who are pursuing an accredited program in psychology. This is because the undergraduate requirements set out by APAC require that approximately 40 per cent of an undergraduate degree comprises the accredited psychology program (approximately 9–10 subjects), leaving 60 per cent of the program for a student to pursue subjects in other disciplines. Given that university funding is based upon subjects taken, then those other disciplines receive income because a student pursuing psychology also takes subjects in their programs. The other difference is that professional training in psychology occurs at the Master level.
“Two things are clear. First, there would be less money overall to train a psychologist. Second, students would pay substantially more for the privilege of being trained as psychologists”
Of course, the costs of training a medical doctor and a historian differ, and this is recognised by dividing disciplines into a number of Fields of Education (FOE). Behavioural Sciences (FOE 0907) covers psychology subjects at the undergraduate level, including Honours. The category of Clinical Psychology (which is not actually classified as a Field of Study) covers all subjects in Master’s programs leading to an Area of Practice Endorsement, except for those in organisational programs4.
University funding is based upon a Government contribution and a student contribution, with the latter supported by the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS). Together these provide the funding to the university for that student5. Let us begin with the funding of the undergraduate program before also considering the Honours and professional programs.
Undergraduate programs
Currently, subjects in undergraduate psychology attract a Government contribution of $10,630 and a student contribution of $6,566, making a total of $17,196 per year for a full-time student studying nothing but psychology in their degree6. However, we note that the accredited sequence in psychology only covers some 40 per cent of the undergraduate program.
For our calculation, let us assume that this is 10 subjects out of the 24 that are required to complete a three-year degree. Thus, in a given year the accredited undergraduate sequence in psychology requires 40 per cent of $10,630 ($4,252) from the Federal Government and 40 per cent of $6,566 ($2,626) as the student contribution, for a total of three lots of $6,878 or $20,634 across three years.
Note that what the Government and the student pay for the other 14 subjects is determined by the subjects the student selects. If the student chooses a subject in biology, then the Government contribution and the student contribution are determined by the Field of Study for biology. This is true of all these other subjects.
Under the Federal Government’s model as originally proposed (the New model), the funding of the accredited undergraduate sequence in psychology would fall almost exclusively on the student with the Federal Government paying very little. Indeed, the student would now pay $14,500 per EFTSL, or $5,800 for the accredited sequence (based on 40% psychology, a significant increase from the $2,626 contributed under the current model). In contrast, the Federal Government contribution would fall to $1,100 per EFTSL or $440 (significantly down from $2,626; based on 40% representing the accredited undergraduate sequence).
These changes can be seen by looking at the blue segments of the columns in Figure 1, which illustrates the funding of psychology at the various levels. Figure 1 shows the total cost and the Government contribution for each of the models: the ‘Current’ situation, the original ‘New’ costings proposed by the Government, and the revised ‘New+’ model that has been presented to parliament.
Honours programs
The impact on Honours funding of the original proposal is the same as for the undergraduate program. Honours is a one-year program devoted exclusively to psychology. It is therefore 1 EFTSL. Currently, the Federal Government pays $10,630 and the Student contribution is $6,566, as noted above. Under the proposed model the Student contribution rises to $14,500 and the Federal Government contribution falls to $1,100.
Professional programs
The impacts of the proposed funding model on the undergraduate and Honours programs are similar in that student contribution is substantially more than that of the Government. How does the new model impact on specialist Master’s training? Currently, the Federal Government’s contribution for clinical psychology is $12,756 and the student contribution is $7,108, for a total of $19,864 for one year full-time study. Master’s programs are typically two years long, so this aspect of training currently costs $39,7287. The originally proposed ‘New’ model retains the separate funding band for clinical psychology.
The Federal Government now contributes $13,500 per EFTSL and the student contribution is $3,700, making a total of $17,200 per year of full-time study, or $34,400 in total. As illustrated in ‘New’ in Figure 1, while the proportion of Government contribution to student contribution remains roughly the same, there would be less money in total to train students8. Most Departments/Schools of Psychology would argue that even the current level of funding is insufficient given the required staff to student ratio and the difficulties of obtaining placements.
What does this mean for training in professional psychology?
The ‘Current’ columns of Figure 1 show the funding under the current model, compared to funding under the proposed model (New). Two things are clear. First, there would be less money overall to train a psychologist. Second, students would pay substantially more for the privilege of being trained as psychologists. The Government contribution falls by $21,372 and the student contribution rises by $12,533. The impacts of these changes would be dramatic and far-reaching. Luckily, we were not the only group to see this.
The APS argued that funding should be in the same band as science and made the point, as noted above, that the burden of training would shift to the student. The Council of Regional Universities noted the likely impact on student choice of the shifts and the subsequent damage to their local institutions and to mental health services in regional areas (see the Regional universities roundtable: bit.ly/3cCZ4wD).
Members of the HODSPA Executive met with the Minister’s advisors. We proposed that funding for undergraduate psychology should be in the Allied Health Band. The revised version of the model (New+) has placed the accredited undergraduate sequence (including Honours) in these Bands. The impacts upon funding of psychology training for both the Government contribution and the student contribution can be seen in the right-hand columns of Figure 1 (New+).
This is, of course, an improved outcome than that under the original proposed model. In the New+ model, psychology (and social work) have been moved to the same funding band as Allied Health. This adjustment would see the student contribution set at $9,240 for the 40 per cent of a three-year degree and the Government contribution set at $16,200, making a total of $25,540. Funding for the Honours year if also set at the same level as Allied Health, would be $7,700 for the student and $13,500 for the Government ($21,200 in total).
However, subjects in psychology that are not in the accredited sequence may be funded as Behavioural Science. Importantly, it is not clear what happens to students who are taking education (for example) but choose to do some subjects in the accredited sequence in psychology. Presumably they would pay the Behavioural Science cost. The readers of InPsych will know that the Federal Government’s Job-ready Graduates Package has now been passed. There are still a number of issues around the New+ funding model that need to be addressed and we await further consultation to determine the exact funding arrangements for psychology. We look forward to working with the Government to ensure that students who wish to pursue a career as a psychologist will be able to do so without incurring a significant debt.
Funding for training a clinical psychologist under the various models
1 Depending upon the institution, ‘subjects’ may be called units, courses, or in New Zealand, ‘papers’.
2 A full-time student load is typically eight subjects over a year. This is referred to as an Equivalent Full-time Student Load (EFTSL).
3 This is the latest figure that we have. The 2019 number will be available in October 2020. Interestingly, an additional 3,812 EFTSL were international students. Overall, some 30 per cent of the load in Australian universities comes from international students. In psychology, this is around 10 per cent.
4 Current funding bands and clusters (bit.ly/2S5xqyU)
5 It is important to remember that this is funding to the university, not to the Department or School of Psychology. Typically the Department/School receives about 30-40 per cent of this total depending upon the institution’s budget-allocation model.
6 Current funding bands and clusters (bit.ly/2S5xqyU)
7 All specialist Master’s programs are funded as ‘clinical’, except for programs in organisational psychology.
8 You can work out the funding for ‘generalist’ training via the 5+1 route. Note that the undergraduate training costs the same as the ‘specialist’ programs, and the Master’s program is for one year instead of two.