New regulations regarding the use of testimonials in advertising The Psychology Board of Australia recently released the Guidelines for advertising of regulated health services, which were developed jointly by the National Boards under section 39 of the Health Practitioner ...

Published Jul 2017

The Psychology Board of Australia Code of Conduct came into effect for all registered psychologists practicing in Australia on 1 Dec 2025.  The following resource will be updated to align with the new Code of Conduct. This resource should be read in conjunction with the Code o...

Last reviewed Jan 2026

There are many misconceptions about palliative care. For example, that it means death is imminent and, as such, is ‘God’s waiting room’. It may also be thought of as the withdrawal of all active or effective treatment, that health professionals have given up, that it hastens d...

Published May 2019

  Ethical dilemmas are an inevitable aspect of psychological practice because of the nature and context of the service and the central trusting relationship between the psychologist and client that has inherent power inequalities. There will be many situations th...

Last reviewed Apr 2026

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 t...

Published Jun 2017

Supporting clients at risk of suicide can be one of the most professionally challenging and distressing situations that psychologists face throughout their careers. Working with such clients requires balancing ethical considerations such as client safety, client privacy, and c...

Published Jul 2019

Psychologists are critical to supporting young children and their families who are accessing the NDIS. For some families of children living with developmental differences, it's not until they're seeking out NDIS support for their child that they get to talk about their conc...

Last reviewed Oct 2024

The first ‘do’ is you must write session notes! Taking adequate session notes (or ‘progress notes’) is part of the important review and planning associated with providing an ongoing psychological service, and is one of the ethical obligations of psychologists. Session notes fa...

Published Jun 2017

Fifteen years ago the APS followed the APA in releasing a position statement about the potentially harmful effects of engaging in forms of psychological practice that attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation. Given the lack of empirical evidence about such practice at t...

Published Jun 2017

The APS receives regular queries from members about the correct way to refer to and list qualifications on business cards, and the proper use of postnominals (the letters listed after one's name) associated with APS membership. With the advent of national registration and e...

Published Jun 2017