Professional practice

April 2017 | Dr Rebecca Mathews

This is the final in a series of articles looking at contracting arrangements within psychology practice settings. Fair Work Australia is increasingly concerned about how contracts are implemented across various industries in the context of sufficiently distinguishing between an independent...

April 2017

Privacy and compliance will become more significant for psychologists given a new mandatory breach notification scheme. A new Bill1 introduces a requirement for government agencies and private sector organisations, covered by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) to provide notice to the...

April 2017

All States and Territories have legislation that makes it mandatory for individuals engaged in occupations where they interact with children to meet specified pre-employment screening requirements. This legislation generally applies to psychologists and psychology students who engage in child...

February 2017

Many Australian organisations offer an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) which provides a way for employers to promote employee wellbeing. EAP programs are funded by organisations and allow employees, and often members of their families, to access short-term counselling services to assist in a...

February 2017

Psychologists who are required to observe the Commonwealth Privacy Act 19881 (Privacy Act) need to comply with surveillance and monitoring laws if the premises in which they deliver health services to clients use closed-circuit television (CCTV).Psychologists working in organisations required to...

February 2017

The ongoing freeze on Medicare rebates is placing considerable financial pressure on all health care providers including psychologists. Despite this, many psychologists continue to directly bill Medicare (bulk bill) clients with limited financial capacity rather than ask them to pay an upfront...

February 2017 | Ms Elisabeth Shaw

There is growing community demand for psychological services, and a consequent number of psychologists moving into private practice, which has led to many practices recruiting psychologists to work as contractors.Most psychology business arrangements meet ethical obligations under the APS Code of...

February 2017 | Dr Lyn O'Grady

From the 1940s to the 1980s there were more than 250,000 forced adoptions in Australia. Adoptions commonly involved not only state and federal governments, but also churches, charities, hospitals, medical staff and maternity homes. The experiences of those affected by the past policies and...

February 2017 | Annmaree Wilson

Many psychologists who work in rural and remote Australia report their work as professionally challenging and personally satisfying, with the uniqueness of the location and lifestyle an added bonus. However, it is widely recognised that psychologists working in rural and remote Australia...