Professional practice

August 2014 | Dr Rebecca Mathews

With many practice management packages now being web-based, cloud computing becomes an important consideration. Cloud computing is the off-site third party provision of information technology capabilities, including software and storage services. Instead of storing information on a computer's...

August 2014

Issues associated with psychologists working as contractors are the subject of frequent queries to the APS Professional Advisory Service, both from businesses using psychologists as contractors as well as from psychologists who provide services as independent contractors or subcontractors. This...

June 2014

The use of social media has grown exponentially over the past decade and social media tools such as Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, blogs and Twitter have become commonplace in business and personal life. Social media can be used to support psychologists in their practices, but there are a number of...

June 2014

The use of testimonials in advertising or other promotion of regulated health services has been prohibited since the introduction of the national registration scheme in 2010. This prohibition is spelt out in the Guidelines for advertising of regulated health services, which are issued by the...

June 2014 | Dr Rebecca Mathews

Even though computers have been widely used for over 20 years, it would not be an exaggeration to say that psychology has been slow to embrace the technological age for both psychological services and practice management. While many psychologists continue to use traditional forms of communication...

June 2014

The Medicare provider number is a unique identifier which enables psychologists to bill for Medicare-funded services provided under the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS). Provider numbers are issued by the Department of Human Services (DHS) on application. A Medicare provider number identifies:The...

April 2014 | Mick Symons

Implications for psychologists’ collection, storage and disclosure of personal informationSignificant amendments to the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 that regulates the handling of personal information became operative on 12 March 2014. Although the impact of the amendments on psychologists...

April 2014

Psychologists from time to time may find themselves working with clients where there is a risk of serious harm to others, such as threatened acts of violence, sexual assault, stalking, intimidation and harassment. This is more likely to occur in settings such as forensic facilities, domestic...

April 2014 | Jill Giese

Under the law governing national registration, all registered health professionals (including psychologists) are obligated to report another health practitioner if they believe the practitioner has behaved in a way which presents a serious risk to the public. The mandatory notification...