Steps to becoming a fully registered psychologist

The Psychology Board of Australia determines the Australian requirements for registration as practising psychologists.

Students who intend to pursue psychology as a career must complete a minimum four-year sequence of education followed by a minimum of two further years of education or internship training to be eligible for general registration as a psychologist in Australia.

At Swinburne, we offer undergraduate and postgraduate psychology degrees that are accredited by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC). Our degrees support the path to becoming fully registered psychologists.

If you intend to become a psychologist in the future, you must ensure that you have completed the following sequence of steps:

1. Four-year undergraduate psychology studies

Undertake the Bachelor of Psychology (Honours), our APAC-accredited four-year undergraduate degree in psychology. On completion, register to become a provisionally registered psychologist with the Psychology Board of Australia to be eligible to undertake further studies or begin a supervised internship program.

Alternatively, you can complete one of our APAC-accredited three-year undergraduate psychology sequences. These degrees allow you to incorporate studies in another field/s into your psychology degree:

Graduates of a three-year undergraduate psychology sequence must complete a fourth year of study before obtaining provisional registration as a psychologist from the Psychology Board of Australia and can enter the fourth year of the Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) or the Bachelor of Psychological Sciences (Honours).

2. Postgraduate psychology studies

The final step involves successfully graduating from one of the following postgraduate degrees in clinical psychology:

You will then be eligible for general registration as a psychologist with the Psychology Board of Australia.

General registration makes you eligible for endorsement in a specific area of practice within psychology. After completing your APAC-accredited postgraduate studies, a registered psychologist must undergo supervised practice in a registrar program of the Psychology Board of Australia.

More detailed information can be found on the Australian Psychological Society website.