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The requirements for psychology AoPE are set out in the Area of practice endorsement registration standard and supporting information is provided in the Guidelines on area of practice endorsements.
To be eligible to apply for endorsement, you must have an approved qualification accredited at sixth year or higher in one of the nine approved areas of practice, hold general registration as a psychologist, and you must complete a period of Board-approved supervised practice through the registrar program.
Non-practising psychologists who previously held endorsement in an approved area of practice before taking a break from practice are eligible to reinstate that endorsement when they return to practice, provided they meet all the requirements for general registration. See the recency of practice page for more information.
Psychologists who already hold an endorsement may complete an approved one-year postgraduate bridging qualification and the registrar program to be eligible for a subsequent endorsement.
Psychologists who do not hold an endorsement, including those who completed the 4+2 or 5+1 internship pathway to general registration, may complete an approved one-year postgraduate bridging qualification and the registrar program to be eligible to apply for their first endorsement. Note that higher education providers set their own entry requirements for these bridging qualifications in accordance with the accreditation standards and other higher education sector regulations.
Psychologists who are registered and hold a current practising certificate for New Zealand can apply for registration with AoPE in Australia that is equivalent to their registration type in New Zealand using the ATMR-76 form. The professional scopes of practice in New Zealand that are equivalent to area of practice endorsements in Australia are:
See the overseas applicants page for more information about applying for general registration in Australia.
If you are an overseas-trained psychologist and are eligible for general registration in Australia, you can apply for endorsement if you have completed:
You will first have your overseas postgraduate qualification assessed for equivalence to an accredited postgraduate qualification. You may also apply for recognition of prior supervised practice towards the registrar program if you have completed formal post-qualification supervised practice in the relevant area of practice. If the Board determines you have an equivalent qualification but you have not completed all of the required supervised practice, you may be required to complete a registrar program.
See the overseas applicants page for more information about applying for general registration in Australia. Use the AEAT-76 form to apply for AoPE.
If you were enrolled in an accredited Doctoral degree on 30 June 2010 (when the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme started), you are eligible to apply for AoPE after you have completed your studies and graduated from the degree (without completing the registrar program). This transition provision also applies to students who were enrolled in a different accredited degree on 30 June 2010 but then changed their degree to complete an accredited doctoral degree at a later date (e.g. MPsych student who transferred to DPsych). There is no deadline under these transition provisions to complete the doctoral degree and apply for endorsement. However, students should be aware of university requirements to complete the higher degree in a timely fashion and of the Board’s recency of practice requirements.
Psychologists who on 30 June 2010 were undertaking an accredited Masters degree (or combined MPsych/PhD) in an area of practice are eligible to apply for an area of practice endorsement after graduating from the degree and completing a 1500-hour rather than 3000-hour Board-approved registrar program.
If you gained your psychology qualification in Australia before 2003 (when the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council began accrediting postgraduate degrees), the Board will consider your application for endorsement if you have completed a postgraduate qualification and a period of supervised practice that the Board considers as substantially equivalent to an accredited postgraduate qualification followed by the registrar program.
Use the AEAT-76 form to apply for endorsement under any of these transition provisions.