Updated 5+1 internship guidelines
The first major update to the psychology internship guidelines in over a decade took effect in December 2025, removing the case study requirement.
Profession
Psychology
In all four countries the protected "psychologist" core is becoming easier to enter, while more work moves to supervised assistant tiers. None of these changes yet has outcome evidence behind it.
Reforms
Psychology training redesign: a single five-year degree
The Psychology Board of Australia consulted on replacing the six-year route to registration with one five-year degree, removing the internship year and the national exam for domestic graduates, and will recommend the change to the federal government.
Ontario "As of Right": psychologists from other provinces can practise immediately
Since January 2026, psychologists fully registered elsewhere in Canada can practise in Ontario for up to six months while they complete local registration.
Ontario: one "psychologist" title from a master's degree
Ontario's psychology regulator voted to register master's graduates as psychologists and cut post-degree experience from four years to one. The proposal is now with Ontario's Health Minister; the title change would also need the legislature to amend the Act.
Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Amendment Bill
New Zealand's bill would let the Health Minister direct the health regulators on policy and let a ministerial committee overturn registration refusals. Parliament has since been dissolved for the November 2026 election.
"Psychologist" remains an unprotected title
Only qualified titles such as "clinical psychologist" or "registered psychologist" are protected in the UK. Much of the wider psychological workforce is assured through voluntary registers rather than a statutory regulator.
No reforms tracked for this country yet.
Library
Major proposed changes to psychology education and training
AAPi's summary of the Psychology Board's proposal: a single five-year degree to registration, no internship or national exam for domestic graduates, and a possible assistant exit. AAPi sees access benefits but is concerned about the drop to AQF Level 8.
Why it matters: A plain-English summary of the model the Board consulted on in April 2026. AAPi later said it does not support a five-year AQF Level 8 degree, and in September 2026 the Board said it will drop the assistant exit from the reform.
APS response to the Psychology Board's higher education pathway redesign
The APS says it does 'not support the proposed five-year model proceeding in its current form', citing safety, the drop in qualification level, placements, and an undefined assistant role.
Why it matters: The APS's formal, Board-endorsed position on what the Psychology Board calls a once-in-a-generation reform of psychology training.
Statement by the CPBAO on registration changes
Ontario's regulator announces that its Board approved registering psychologists from approved graduate programs, cutting the experience requirement for master's candidates from four years to one, and recognising accrediting bodies outside the US. It says it will keep working on approaches that support 'fairness, labour mobility, and improved access to care'.
Why it matters: The regulator's own words. Quote this rather than second-hand descriptions of the change.
Policy approval for amendments to the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act
The New Zealand government's case for reform. It criticises 'unnecessarily high standards', long training and strict supervision, 'patch protection' and siloed regulators, and names associate psychologists among new professions it says regulators have been slow to adapt to, citing 'professional resistance or lack of direction from government'.
Why it matters: A strikingly direct statement of what the government believes is wrong with professional regulation. It mentions psychology once, naming associate psychologists as a new profession.
Decision on proposed Psychology Assistant role
The Board approved a registered Psychology Assistant role with safeguards: no diagnosis, a focus on mild or less complex needs, mandatory supervision and team-only practice. It received 441 submissions.
Why it matters: New Zealand's first registered assistant tier in psychology. Its safeguards are specific enough to monitor.
Rethinking who can be called a psychologist
An opinion piece by psychologist Monnica T. Williams supporting Ontario's proposal to let master's and doctoral graduates share the psychologist title, arguing that opposition from professional associations reflects elitism more than public safety.
Why it matters: A clear statement of the case for the change, from a supporter. Read it alongside the CPA/OPA joint letter for the case against.
No library items for this country yet.