Careers in psychology

The registrar program is an intensive period of supervised practice in one of the nine recognised areas of practice endorsement. Completion of the registrar program enables eligible psychologists to develop the core competencies required for endorsement in that specific area of practice.

A registrar program comprises three components:

• psychological practice
• supervision with a PsyBA approved supervisor
• active continuing professional development (CPD).

Program requirements differ depending on an individual’s postgraduate qualifications. Specifically:

• MPsych graduates must complete two years of supervised practice (FTE) plus 80 hours of CPD
• MPsych/PhD graduates are required to complete one and a half years of supervised practice (FTE) plus 60 hours of CPD
• DPsych graduates must complete one year (FTE) of supervised practice plus 40 hours of CPD.

Your registrar program will be in the same area(s) of practice as your postgraduate degree and will give you endorsement in that area(s). For example, if you undertook a Masters of Health Psychology, received general registration, and completed two (or more) years of supervised practise in health psychology within a registrar program, you would be eligible for endorsement as a health psychologist. 

To start a registrar program you must hold general registration as a psychologist. To obtain general registration, you must have completed a MPsych degree or if you are enrolled in a MPsych/PhD or DPsych, you must have completed all coursework and placement requirements, and made sufficient progress on your thesis.

You must also have:

• a Board approved supervisor who has agreed to supervise you for the registrar program
• a suitable work role or placements that enable you to meet the practice requirements for the registrar program
• developed a supervised practice plan that meets the requirements for the area of practice endorsement (AoPE) registrar program.

The cost of the registrar program will vary depending on your individual circumstances. You should consider the following factors when trying to determine the cost involved:

• PsyBA fees: The following application fees apply (as at June 2021):
  • Application for general registration: $509
  • Registration fee for general registration: $486 (to be paid with the application fee)
  • Application for approval of a registrar program: $255
  • Application for endorsement of registration: $255
• Supervision fees: Supervision fees can vary. Some employers may include supervision with an approved supervisor as part of your employment contract, however, this is not always the case and you may need to negotiate to undertake supervision external to your place of work. It is important to be aware of a supervisor’s fees prior to engaging in a supervisory relationship. Some supervisors charge an amount that is equivalent to what they charge for any private practice session, and others offer supervision at lower rates to support early career psychologists.
• CPD costs: CPD costs do not need to be high. Some CPD activities may be provided by your employer or via peer consultation at no cost. Active CPD activities such as workshops or online training may incur costs which are set by the provider.

For more up to date information related to fees, visit the PsyBA website fees page

Psychologists undertaking a registrar program can use the title ‘Registrar’. For example, someone undertaking a registrar program in clinical neuropsychology can identify themselves as a ‘Clinical Neuropsychology Registrar’ or ‘Registrar (Clinical Neuropsychology)’. The rules around the use of the title ‘Registrar’ are explicitly outlined on page 2 of the AoPE guidelines.

Once you have completed half of your supervised practice hours, you need to submit a progress report (Form PREA-76) to the PsyBA.

You will also need to notify the PsyBA if you change your workplace/practice site (Form ACAP-76) or if you change your supervisor or add a secondary supervisor (Form ACSP-76).

On completion of the registrar program, you will be required to submit a final progress report (Form PREA-76), together with an application for AoPE (Form AECR-76).

As part of your progress reports (Form PREA-76), your supervisor will be required to comment on your progress towards attaining each of the required core capabilities in your area of practice.  

There is no set time limit for when you must commence a registrar program following the completion of your postgraduate degree. However, once you have commenced a registrar program, you have five years to complete it. This means that from the time the Board approves your registrar program, you have five years to lodge the application for AoPE with the Board. Please note, you must commence supervision within 28 days of the Board approving your registrar program.

Individuals wishing to take leave from the registrar program (e.g., maternity leave) are advised to speak to a Psychology Professional Officer at AHPRA for advice on how this would impact the time limits imposed by the PsyBA.

Those completing the registrar program on a full-time basis would need to average four client hours per week. This is based on the minimum requirement of 176 hours of direct client contact per annum. For the purposes of the registrar program, full-time is considered to be 35 hours per week over a 44-week year (taking into account eight weeks of personal and annual leave).

The total number of client hours required over the duration of your registrar program depends on which degree you have completed. For example:

• Masters candidates need to complete 3080 total hours of psychological practice (2 years FTE) including 352 direct client contact hours.
• Masters/PhD candidates must complete 2310 hours of practice (1.5 years FTE) with a total of 264 direct client contact hours. 
• Doctorate candidates are required to complete 1540 hours of practice (1 year FTE) which comprises 176 direct client contact hours.

Please note, the total hours can be spread over a maximum of five years.

A broad range of activities may count as direct client contact. According to the AoPE guidelines client contact means “direct client contact performing specific tasks of psychological assessment, intervention, prevention, consultation and management planning” (p.7). If you are unsure whether an activity counts towards your client hours, please check with your Board approved supervisor.

It is recommended that you log your practice hours in the Registrar system. To save time, you can log several days of practice hours up to a maximum 500 hours in one activity type. 

Possibly. Depending on the competencies you need to complete in your specific area of practice, you may be required to work with clients who have different needs. For example, a graduate of a forensic psychology Masters would be required to see a range of clients such as those accused or convicted of criminal offences, children in the care of child protection agencies, victims of crime etc. However, this is something you will need to consider in collaboration with your supervisor when designing your registrar program plan.

Yes you can, provided that you have submitted an application to change a practice site to the PsyBA (Form ACAP-76) and you are granted approval by the Board. 

To find a supervisor, you can search the PsyBA list of Board-approved supervisors which lists all supervisors approved by the Board to provide supervision to provisional and registered psychologists.

When choosing a supervisor it is important to consider a range of factors including the supervisor’s:

• location and availability
• qualifications, specialities and experience
• supervision style
• possible fees.

Principal supervisors provide the majority of the supervision and take principal responsibility for the supervisee throughout the registrar program. Secondary supervisors provide a component of the supervision as agreed with the PsyBA, the principal supervisor and the supervisee.

A psychologist is eligible to be approved as a principal supervisor if they have:

• held general registration as a psychologist for a minimum of three years
• held the relevant AoPE for at least 2 years prior to being approved as a principle supervisor and maintain their endorsement throughout the period of supervision
• completed Board-approved supervisor training and have been given Board-approved supervisor status.

Secondary supervisors must meet these same conditions, however, they must have held general registration for a minimum of two years (instead of three) and they do not have to have an AoPE in the approved area of practice (however they should have advanced knowledge and experience in the area). If the secondary supervisor is not endorsed in the same area of practice, then they can only provide a maximum of 33 percent of the total supervision required for the registrar program.

At least 50 per cent of all supervision must be provided by the principal supervisor.

Please read section 4.1 of the AoPE guidelines for further information regarding principal and secondary supervisors.

Yes you can, provided that you submit an application to change a supervisor to the PsyBA (Form ACSP-76) and you are granted approval by the Board.

You must apply to the PsyBA for approval of your registrar program and supervisor using the AEAP-76 form. If you need to add or change a supervisor during the registrar program you will need to submit the ACSP-76 form.

Yes. You must receive a minimum of 40 hours of supervision per year of psychological practice (FTE). Registrars who take a leave of absence (e.g., maternity leave) must still receive at least 10 hours of supervision a year. Supervision must be provided at least fortnightly and have a duration of at least one hour per session.

A minimum of 66 per cent of the total supervision hours for the entire registrar program must be individual (one-on-one) supervision. In keeping with this, group supervision must not exceed 33 per cent of the total supervision hours. 

Supervision can be provided face-to-face or via an alternative delivery (e.g., Skype, phone).

Yes. You should keep an updated logbook for psychological practice, including direct client contact hours and supervision hours. Whilst a logbook does not need to be submitted to the PsyBA, an up-to-date logbook will help you prepare your progress reports and will also serve as evidence of the work you are completing.

Yes. The PsyBA conducts audits for all registration requirements including CPD. You need to maintain a log of your CPD, including evidence in case you are audited. Maintaining a log of your CPD will also help you prepare your progress reports that are required for the registrar program.

The APS has a CPD logging tool which is available to members and can be used to monitor your progress towards meeting your CPD requirements and allows you to record your CPD activities in real-time with an instantly downloadable log. 

Please select the relevant Area of Practice Endorsement in the CPD profile so you can allocate your hours towards your registrar program. Only active hours allocated to the Area of Practice Endorsement will be transferred to your registrar profile.

The total number of CPD hours required for the registrar program depends on your qualification. Specifically:

• Masters candidates need to complete 80 hours of CPD over the course of their registrar program
• Masters/PhD candidates must complete 60 hours of CPD over the course of their registrar program
• Doctorate candidates are required to complete 40 hours over the course of their registrar program

The CPD hours presented above can also be used as the 30 hours of CPD per year that are required for the CPD registration standard.

For the purposes of gaining endorsement through the registrar program, continuing professional development (CPD) must meet the requirements of ‘active’ CPD. Active CPD includes any activity that involve the assessment or practical application of new learning. Please refer section 3.4 of the AoPE guidelines for examples of active CPD activities.

• Become familiar with the PsyBA Guidelines on area of practice endorsement and the APS Ethical Guidelines for supervision
• Investigate arrangements for supervision before accepting a job
• Check that any proposed supervisors are Board-approved and have an Area of Practice Endorsement in the relevant area of practice (if applicable)
• Make a contract or agreement with the supervisor and, if external to your place of work, ensure your line manager approves the arrangements
• Be prepared to receive encouragement, information and constructive criticism from your supervisor to help you to master the competencies
• Review the supervision every six months or as required to evaluate progress
• Contact the APS Professional Advisory Service for advice on issues that relate to supervision. Call 1800 333 497 or email [email protected]

For further information about the registrar program, please visit the PsyBA website.

For information and helpful tips on how to form a positive supervisory relationship, accessing support and maximising your learning during the supervision process, please register to Product Development’s webinar recording of Choosing and working with a supervisor or peer consultant which is free to APS Members.

The APS Early Career HQ also provides useful information regarding the registrar program, as well as a range of other resources tailored to early career psychologists. The Early Career HQ brings together information and opportunities from across the APS to assist early career psychologists navigate those first steps in their career and build a professional identity.