Frequently asked questions

Registration as a psychologist in Australia and membership of the APS are totally separate processes. The Psychology Board of Australia (PBA) and the APS are distinct organisations.

• Registration
  To practise as a psychologist in Australia you must hold current registration. The PBA is the body responsible for the registration of psychologists in Australia.

Currently, applicants with qualifications obtained overseas are required by the PBA to have an assessment of psychology qualifications conducted by the APS before applying for registration.

• APS membership
  The APS is the largest professional association for psychologists in Australia. Once your APS assessment has been completed, you may consider joining the APS.

The only country with which Australia currently shares mutual recognition is New Zealand. Therefore, qualifications from any other country must be assessed by the APS for comparability to an APAC-accredited sequence of study for the purpose of registration.

If you hold registration in New Zealand you may obtain registration in Australia through the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Agreement. For further information, you should contact the PBA. Unless you require an assessment for migration purposes, it is unlikely that you will be required to undergo an APS assessment of psychology qualifications.

To complete a psychology internship in Australia you must hold current provisional registration. The PBA determines the requirements for provisional registration. This involves the completion of an APAC-accredited four year sequence of study in psychology in Australia or qualifications that are comparable to an APAC-accredited four year sequence of study in psychology. For further information you should contact the PBA about your intended internship.

Currently, applicants with qualifications obtained overseas are required by the PBA to have an assessment of psychology qualifications conducted by the APS before applying for provisional registration.

You will also need to check with the coordinator of your current course that an internship in Australia is accepted at the university where you are studying.

All qualifications that are awarded by institutions outside Australia need to be assessed by the APS to determine comparability with an APAC-accredited sequence of study in psychology. There are no existing arrangements for mutual recognition of degrees from other countries.

In the case of students who seek to undertake study in psychology outside Australia, but who also wish to have their overseas study accepted here, the APS recommends that students only undertake courses which are accredited for membership and registration by the membership and registration organisations in the country where they choose to study.

The APS may assess your qualifications. However, before applying for an assessment, the APS advises that you contact the course coordinator of the program you wish to apply to. If your qualifications were awarded more than ten years ago, some universities may not accept your qualifications as sufficiently recent to enter an accredited postgraduate program in psychology.

No. In order to meet the requirements for general skilled migration as a psychologist or a skilled graduate visa, you must complete qualifications comparable to six years of study in psychology in Australia (or overseas qualifications which have been deemed comparable by the APS) or hold full, current and unconditional registration as a psychologist in Australia.

Therefore you would need to complete an APAC-accredited fourth year, followed by either an APAC-accredited postgraduate psychology program (Masters level at least) or two years supervised experience as a psychologist resulting in full registration with the PBA.

No. You may send your application for your assessment from overseas. If the APS has any queries about your application, you will be contacted by email.

No. The APS can only assess completed qualifications.

If your academic transcript does not clearly state the qualification has been completed or conferred, you must submit a certified true copy of the degree certificate.

The APS does not accept letters as official evidence of course completion.

No. If your PhD thesis is currently under examination, the degree has not yet been formally completed. You may only apply for an assessment once you can provide either a certified copy of the degree certificate or a certified copy of the academic transcript which clearly states that the qualification has been completed or conferred.

No. The APS can only consider completed qualifications as part of the assessment. Since work experience or employment history is not part of a formal university qualification, the APS may not consider them as part of its assessment of psychology qualifications.

The APS does not assess individual coursework units as part of its assessment. It is an Australian university's responsibility to determine the level of accepted credits within an APAC-accredited course. For further information about the APAC accreditation standards, please see www.apac.psychology.org.au. Alternatively, if you already have a degree, you may consider studying an accredited Graduate Diploma in Psychology at an Australian university.

You may use the same assessment to apply for entry into multiple universities, or for the purpose of registration or employment. It is your responsibility to make certified copies of the Statement of Comparability for multiple purposes. Please note additional copies made by the APS may incur a fee.

If you wish the APS to comment on migration for a skills assessment for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, then you must use the application form for migration.

You may use the same assessment outcome for more than one purpose. You only need to fill out one application form and pay one fee (the highest fee).

Yes. The APS requires an official academic transcript that indicates the date on which the qualification was completed and the years you were enrolled in the course. The APS suggests that you contact the student records department of the university at which you studied to confirm whether transcripts are produced. In circumstances where the university does not routinely issue academic transcripts for research degrees, please contact the APS.

Yes. The APS requires that you submit a certified copy of the title page, table of contents and abstract of your thesis/major research project. If you do not have a bound copy of your thesis, you may have an electronic copy. If you have an electronic copy, you can print the required pages and have those pages certified as a true copy of the original.

You do not need to have the list of supervisor(s) and examiner(s) certified as a true copy of the original. 

IELTS is the International English Language Testing System. If you are applying for an assessment of psychology qualifications for migration, you must provide evidence of completing this test to a particular level as part of your application.

For further information about the IELTS examination, please see: www.ielts.org.

You must submit results of the IELTS academic module where you have achieved a minimum score of 7 in each of the four components (listening, reading, writing and speaking) at one sitting of the assessment within a two year period prior to applying for an APS assessment.

No alternative English proficiency tests are accepted, not even the IELTS General Module examination.

You must provide a certified copy of a satisfactory and valid result, or arrange for evidence to be sent directly from the testing centre to the APS.

If you have completed all your academic training in psychology at a tertiary institution(s) in Australia, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland, United Kingdom, South Africa, Canada or USA where programs are conducted in English, you are exempt from sitting an English language assessment.

It is important to note however, that the APS reserves the right to ask an applicant to take the Academic IELTS examination if there is uncertainty about their level of English proficiency.