How to become a registered psychologist

To meet the minimum tertiary requirements for provisional registration as a psychologist in Australia, you must complete a four-year basic tertiary program in psychology that has been approved by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council. At Sydney, this can be achieved in two ways:

• By completing the Bachelor of Psychology (to stay in the program you have to maintain minimum grade requirements), or

• By completing a psychology major (three-year sequence of study) in one of the other accredited programs and then applying for a place in the honours year in psychology.

Full registration as a professional psychologist in Australia is overseen by the Psychology Board of Australia and also requires: 

• a fifth and sixth year of graduate study in professional psychology; or 

• one year of graduate study in professional psychology plus one year of a Board approved internship; or

• two years of a Board approved internship. 

At Sydney, you can gain full registration by completing the Master of Clinical Psychology or the Master of Clinical Psychology and PhD which are administered by our Clinical Psychology Unit.

Professional recognition of qualifications

There are two forms of professional recognition of a psychology graduate's training:

• Psychology Board of Australia, the Board which determines who may practise Psychology in Australia.
• Australian Psychological Society (APS) which is the professional body representing Psychologists in Australia. While full membership of the society requires a fifth and sixth year of graduate study, it is not required to practise as a psychologist in Australia.

Both forms of recognition require the successful completion of a sequence of study in psychology that has been accredited by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC).