Inquiry into the Role of Institutes of TAFE
Submissions

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Submission 71

THE AUSTRALIAN PSYCHOLOGICAL SOCIETY LTD

1 GRATTAN STREET, CARLTON VIC 3053

PO BOX 126 CARLTON SOUTH VIC 3053 AUSTRALIA

TELEPHONE 1800 333 497 OR (03) 9663 6166 FACSIMILE (03) 9663 6177

18 November 1997

Re: Inquiry into the Appropriate Roles of Institutes of Technical and Further Education

Thank you for your letter of 30 October 1997 advising that submissions to the above Inquiry are still acceptable.

The Australian Psychological Society (APS) wishes to indicate that it supports the continued education and training of psychologists at the university level in order to maintain the credibility of that training. There should be no overlap with TAFE institutes as all psychology training should continue to be conducted in the university sector. Furthermore, universities are unlikely to accept or give credit for any related studies completed at TAFE for students wishing to transfer into an APS-accredited psychology program. Current policy and guidelines expressly preclude this option.

I outline below the current position regarding the training of psychologists in Australia.

Psychologists are currently required to have a four year Honours degree or equivalent to be Associate Members of the APS or to be eligible for provisional or conditional registration in each State and Territory in Australia. Full membership of the APS, and full registration, requires 6 years of either training (undergraduate/postgraduate) or training plus supervision; both involve 4 years of university training plus 2 years. The APS has introduced 6 years of university training as a minimum requirement for full membership of the Society from 2000 and continues to lobby registration boards to do likewise.

The APS operates a system of accrediting university programs in Psychology, covering 3 year and 4 year programs, up to Honours equivalent, and 5th and 6th year coursework programs. Accreditation of the programs deems the graduates eligible for the relevant grade of membership of the Society. While the accreditation process has been in existence for many years, a new accreditation system was introduced in 1996 whereby Academic Organisation Units (rather than single departments) and the total package of programs offered are accredited. This enables careful examination (via submitted documentation and a site visit) of the resources invested in the training of psychologists and of the structure and content of the programs. Accreditation Guidelines, developed by the Society, assist in establishing certain standards for the programs and while not prescriptive, are considered sufficient for the teaching of psychology as a scientific discipline and an applied profession.

Registration Boards also require certain minimum educational qualifications for registration; each however has the legislative powers to determine what should be considered acceptable. In practice, many consult the list of programs accredited by the APS although they may not acknowledge this publicly. The Registration Boards were also amongst the key stockholders included in the consultative phase of the development of the new Accreditation Guidelines in 1995 and they are kept fully apprised of the APS activities in accreditation.

The APS Colleges, which represent specialist areas of psychological practice, are also involved in the approval of specialist postgraduate coursework training programs (such as Master of Clinical Psychology courses). Each College has developed Course Approval Guidelines, which specify requirements unique to the particular specialisation, and members of the relevant College(s) are included in the site visits made by the accreditation team.

Should you require any further information, please contact me directly. I look forward to reading the report of the Inquiry's deliberations.

Dr Alison F Garton FAPS

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

cc Professor Jeff Richards, Director of Training and Standards

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