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Profession-specific course

Ethics and Professionalism for Psychologists: Applying the Board's Code of Conduct

Applying the Psychology Board Code of Conduct to Everyday Practice

  • 3 CPD hoursEstimated learning time
  • 20-question assessmentPass mark 80%
  • Online, self-pacedStart any time
  • CertificateFor your CPD records

Written for

About this course

On 1 December 2025 the Psychology Board of Australia's own Code of conduct became the standard every registered psychologist is judged against, replacing the APS Code of Ethics in that role. Updated Professional competencies took effect on the same day. The new code is written as standards rather than broad principles, and it reaches into the settings where psychologists most often run into trouble: assessment and report writing, family law and insurer work, supervision, consent with young people and separated parents, and information flowing to GPs, the NDIS and other funders.

Notifications about psychologists cluster around clinical care, communication, documentation and boundaries, and many begin in contested settings where someone is unhappy with a report. Most do not involve bad intent. They involve an opinion that went further than the data, a title that implied an endorsement, a supervisor who signed logs without knowing the caseload, or an intake conversation that never explained who would see the results.

This course turns the code into practical decisions. You will work through Australian scenarios, use an eight-step ethical decision-making model, test your reports against a defensibility checklist, rewrite your intake wording on the limits of confidentiality, and plan CPD and peer consultation that target your real areas of risk. Boundaries and multiple relationships are covered in a separate course, so this one concentrates on everything else the code asks of you.

Who this course is for

  • Psychologists with general registration in private practice, health services, schools and organisations
  • Psychologists holding or working towards an area of practice endorsement, including registrars
  • Provisional psychologists who want to understand the standards they will be held to
  • Supervisors with Board approval who oversee provisional psychologists and registrars
  • Psychologists who write reports for courts, the NDIS, insurers or employers
  • Psychologists returning to practice or reviewing their practice after a complaint

What you’ll learn

  • Reason and record

    Work through dilemmas with a consistent decision-making model and keep a note that shows your reasoning if it is ever questioned.

  • Write defensible reports

    Choose tests carefully, separate sources, data and opinion, state limitations and meet your duty to the court in legal work.

  • Get consent and confidentiality right

    Explain status, fees, supervision, referral reports and the limits of confidentiality in plain words, and handle requests for information lawfully.

  • Practise within your competence

    Describe your qualifications and any endorsement accurately, supervise honestly, and plan CPD and peer consultation around your real risks.

Learning objectives

  • Explain how the Board's Code of conduct, the Professional competencies and Board guidelines fit together as the regulatory standard for psychologists.
  • Apply a structured ethical decision-making model to dilemmas in psychological practice and document the reasoning.
  • Judge the limits of your competence and describe qualifications and area of practice endorsements accurately, including for Medicare.
  • Meet the ethical and professional obligations of supervisors and supervisees, including honest logs and client consent.
  • Select and use psychological tests appropriately and write defensible reports for clinical, court and third-party purposes.
  • Obtain informed consent and manage the limits of confidentiality with adults, children, referrers, funders and third parties.
  • Keep records and plan CPD and peer consultation that meet Board requirements.
  • Advertise accurately, respond well to complaints and build practice systems that support ethical conduct.

Scenarios covered

Practice situations you reason through, step by step, in the course.

  • The title on the website

    A psychologist without an endorsement calls herself a clinical psychologist online. You will see why that is treated as a claim to hold an endorsement and how Medicare item eligibility is affected.

  • The family law letter

    A client asks her treating psychologist to tell the court her former partner is abusive. Learn what a treating psychologist can say, and why opinions about people you have not assessed cause so many complaints.

  • The insurer report that went too far

    A single interview leads to a confident personality disorder diagnosis. Work through how to separate data from opinion and state the limits of an assessment.

  • The unsupervised caseload

    A provisional psychologist has been seeing high-risk clients without raising them in supervision. Explore what the supervisor must do and why signing logs is a matter of honesty.

  • The 15-year-old who wants privacy

    A young person on a Better Access referral asks that his mother not be told what he says. Apply mature minor principles, parenting orders and limits of confidentiality.

  • The phone call from police

    A detective asks whether someone is your client. Learn a six-step process for every third-party request, from subpoenas to employers.

Course contents

8 sections, 34 lessons, then the final assessment.

  1. Section 1: The Regulatory Framework for Psychology in Australia4 lessons
    • 1.1 Who Regulates Psychologists and How
    • 1.2 The Code of Conduct for Psychologists
    • 1.3 How the Code, Competencies and Guidelines Fit Together
    • 1.4 What Notifications About Psychologists Tell Us
  2. Section 2: Ethical Reasoning in Psychological Practice4 lessons
    • 2.1 From Principles to Standards
    • 2.2 A Decision-Making Model for Psychologists
    • 2.3 Recurring Dilemmas in Psychological Practice
    • 2.4 Values, Culture, Bias and Organisational Pressure
  3. Section 3: Competence, Scope and Area of Practice Endorsement4 lessons
    • 3.1 Working Within Your Competence
    • 3.2 Area of Practice Endorsement
    • 3.3 Endorsement, Medicare and Funded Services
    • 3.4 Extending Your Practice Safely: New Methods, Digital Tools and Telehealth
  4. Section 4: Supervision, Provisional Psychologists and Registrars4 lessons
    • 4.1 Supervision in the Psychology Regulatory System
    • 4.2 Responsibilities of Supervisors
    • 4.3 Being Supervised Well
    • 4.4 When Supervision Goes Wrong
  5. Section 5: Psychological Assessment, Testing and Reports5 lessons
    • 5.1 Selecting and Using Psychological Tests
    • 5.2 Test Security, Raw Data and Client Access
    • 5.3 Writing Reports That Stand Up
    • 5.4 Court, Family Law and Tribunal Work
    • 5.5 NDIS, Insurance, Workplace and Other Third-Party Assessments
  6. Section 6: Consent and Confidentiality in Psychology Settings5 lessons
    • 6.1 Informed Consent at the Start of a Service
    • 6.2 Children, Young People and Families
    • 6.3 The Limits of Confidentiality
    • 6.4 Medicare Better Access, Referrers and Funders
    • 6.5 Requests from Third Parties
  7. Section 7: Records, CPD and Peer Consultation4 lessons
    • 7.1 Psychology Records That Meet the Standard
    • 7.2 Access, Amendment and Record Integrity
    • 7.3 CPD for Psychologists
    • 7.4 Peer Consultation and Psychologist Wellbeing
  8. Section 8: Accountability: Advertising, Concerns and an Ethical Practice System4 lessons
    • 8.1 Advertising and Public Communication
    • 8.2 When a Client Complains
    • 8.3 If a Notification Is Made About You
    • 8.4 Building an Ethical Practice System
  9. Final assessment and written reflection20 questions

Assessment and certificate

  1. Work through the course

    Study each section at your own pace, including the case illustrations and apply-it questions.

  2. Pass the assessment

    20 scenario-based questions. You need 16 correct (80%) to pass.

  3. Write your reflection

    A short written reflection on how the learning applies to your own practice.

  4. Download your certificate

    Shows your name, the course, the date and 3 CPD hours. Anyone can check it on our verification page.

What you keep for your CPD records

  • A certificate of completion recording approximately 3 CPD hours of learning, for your CPD portfolio
  • A reflective account comparing your own practice with the Board's code
  • An eight-step ethical decision-making model and a model decision note
  • A report defensibility checklist, an intake script on the limits of confidentiality and a quick-reference guide

How certificates and CPD records workVerify a certificate

Primary sources

The course is built on these official documents. Check them for the current version.

Questions about this course

Is this course recognised by Ahpra or the Psychology Board?

No. This is an independent educational course. It is not accredited, not approved and not endorsed by Ahpra, the Psychology Board of Australia or any professional body. You can record the time you actually spend against your own CPD learning plan and decide whether it fits your needs. If you have a condition or undertaking, check with Ahpra or the Board before relying on any course.

Does the APS Code of Ethics still apply to psychologists?

Since 1 December 2025 the Psychology Board uses its own Code of conduct as the regulatory standard for all registered psychologists. The APS Code of Ethics remains a professional resource and applies to APS members as a membership matter, but it is not the code used to assess notifications.

Does this course cover boundaries and multiple relationships?

Only briefly. Boundaries, dual relationships, gifts, former clients and online contact are covered in depth in a separate course for psychologists. This course focuses on ethical reasoning, competence, endorsement, supervision, assessment and reports, consent and confidentiality, records, CPD and accountability.

Can I call myself a clinical psychologist if most of my work is clinical?

Only if your registration holds an endorsement in clinical psychology. Titles linked to an endorsement are treated as a claim to hold the endorsement, and Medicare psychological therapy items also depend on it. Psychology has no specialist registration, so avoid any description that implies one.

How many CPD hours do psychologists need each year?

The Board's CPD standard requires 30 hours each registration year, including 10 hours of peer consultation, guided by a learning plan with reflection. Psychologists with an endorsement have extra requirements for their area. The Board consulted on revised CPD and recency standards in 2026, so check its website for the current rules.

Can I write a court letter for my therapy client?

You can usually confirm you are treating the client and describe their presentation with consent, but you should not give opinions about people you have not assessed or recommend parenting arrangements from a treating role. The course explains the difference between treating, single expert and party-engaged roles.

Will this course help if I supervise provisional psychologists?

Yes. A full section covers supervision agreements, caseload review, client consent to supervision, honest logs and what to do when a supervisee is not progressing or supervision breaks down.

How long does the course take and how is it assessed?

It is designed for about 3 hours, including a reflective account. The assessment has 20 scenario-based multiple-choice questions with a pass mark of 16 out of 20. Record the time you actually spend.