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Area of practice endorsement is a regulatory mechanism under the National Law that enables a notation to be included on the public register to identify practitioners who have an approved qualification and supervised experience in an approved area of practice. This advanced training is in addition to the minimum level of training required for general registration as a psychologist.
Area of practice endorsement is available for psychologists who have general registration and who meet the Area of practice endorsement registration standard. For more information, see the endorsement webpage.
To check if a registered psychologist has an endorsement, review their registration details on the online Register of Practitioners.
Area of practice endorsement is different from specialist registration. To learn more about why there is no specialist registration in psychology, see the Difference between endorsement and specialist registration page.
To be eligible for endorsement in one of the approved areas of practice a registered psychologist must complete a postgraduate qualification that is accredited and approved by the Board for endorsement in that area of practice. The psychologist must then complete a registrar program, which involves work in that area of practice under the supervision of a Board-approved supervisor who holds endorsement in the same area of practice. See the Guidelines on area of practice endorsements for details on the types of qualifications and corresponding registrar program requirements.
The application forms for area of practice endorsement are available on the Forms page.
If you meet the qualification requirements and have completed a Board-approved registrar program use form AECR-76 to apply for AoPE.
If you meet the qualification requirements but have not yet completed a registrar program, apply to commence a registrar program apply to commence a registrar program using form AEAP-76.
If you completed equivalent training overseas, see the Overseas applicants page and the information for overseas-trained applicants for endorsement on the Pathways to endorsement page. Also refer to the Guidelines on area of practice endorsement. Once you meet the endorsement requirements, use the AEAT-76 form to apply for AoPE.
If you completed an accredited Australian Doctoral degree under transition provisions, see the information about transition provisions on the Pathways to endorsement page and use form AEAT-76 to apply for endorsement.
Professional titles associated with the nine approved areas of practice (e.g. Health Psychologist) are protected under the National Law. To use any of these protected titles, you must complete a Board-approved qualification relevant to the area of practice and a period of supervised practice in a Board-approved registrar program.
Becoming a member of the APS and joining one of nine APS colleges is optional. You may be able to complete a supervised practice program that meets the requirements for both area of practice endorsement and APS College Fellow concurrently. However, the Board and the APS are separate organisations and completion of the requirements for one will not automatically meet the requirements for the other.
The Board’s requirements for endorsement are explained in the Area of practice endorsements registration standard and the Guidelines on area of practice endorsements.
Information about APS college membership is available on the APS website.
To be endorsed in more than one area of practice you must have completed a Board-approved qualification and a period of approved supervised practice for each area of practice (or were granted endorsement under transition provisions at the start of the National Scheme).
If you are already endorsed and you have completed studies for another endorsement, you can complete 75% of the supervised practice hours required in the registrar program for your new endorsement.
If you are not yet endorsed but you are simultaneously seeking two endorsements (e.g. completing an approved higher degree qualification associated with two areas of practice), you can complete 75% of the supervised practice hours required for each endorsement. See the Guidelines on area of practice endorsements for more information.
To maintain endorsement in multiple areas of practice, you must meet annual continuing professional development (CPD) requirements in each area of practice. See the CPD guidelines for details.
To maintain your endorsement you must maintain general registration and meet the requirements for CPD in the Guidelines for continuing professional development.
If your general registration lapses, is cancelled or suspended, or is changed to non-practising registration for a period of time, your endorsement also lapses. When you reapply for general registration, you will be eligible to apply to reinstate any endorsement you previously held.