[Commpsych] Last chance to join the Community College under pre October 2010 rules - and qualify for endorsement with the PBA - deadline June 9th

[Heather Gridley]

Dear Community Psychology students, graduates and friends,


On behalf of the APS College of Community Psychologists, we are writing to encourage you to join the College, and to update you on the latest developments regarding APS College membership and the parallel process of endorsement as a community psychologist with the Psychology Board of Australia. Please read below and attached.


As you would know, the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS) was introduced on July 1st 2010 for all health professions, including psychology. Initially, the Australian Health Workforce Ministerial Council (AHWMC) approved only seven of the nice areas corresponding with the nine APS Colleges for endorsement as areas of specialised practice in psychology, and excluded Community Psychology and Health psychology from the list for endorsement.

After an energetic 6-month campaign, we were delighted to hear in November that the Ministerial Council finally approved the inclusion of Health Psychology and Community Psychology as Endorsed Areas of Practice for the Psychology Profession. The announcement stated that 'Ministers made this decision in light of advice from the Board and key stakeholders concerning the advantages to the public in being able to identify from the public register of psychologists practitioners with additional qualifications and supervised experience in Health and Community psychology'. The PBA then set up a timeline for transition provisions for registrants who wish to have an Area of Practice Endorsement in one of these areas notated on the register.  The APS subsequently extended the application of the 'old' (pre October 2010) rules for membership of these two colleges, to enable anyone who would have qualified for membership and hence for endorsement with the PBA to apply to join the College by June 9th 2011.

Full membership of the APS Community College under the 'old' rules requires an APAC-accredited Masters degree in Community Psychology plus one year of experience that incorporates at least 80 hours of college-specified activities (comprising supervision and/or professional development).  There is also a 'non-standard' path that might involve negotiating a bridging plan (IBP).  This option may be attractive to experienced psychologists with fourth-year training in Community Psychology who are already full members of APS, since there are still very few psychologists in Australia with formal training or qualifications in this field.  It is also applicable to applicants with a research degree (e.g. PhD) and experience in community psychology.  You can find very clear details of how to join at http://www.groups.psychology.org.au/ccom/join/. Please feel free to contact the membership secretary, Catherine D'Arcy, (03) 9757 6261; email: catherine.darcy at kchs.org.au<mailto:catherine.darcy at kchs.org.au> if you need advice about the application process.


The main reason why this matter is urgent is that this two-month window is an exception to the rules for joining APS colleges, which changed last October to bring them into line with the PBA requirements for endorsement in an area of specialist practice.  So after the June 9th deadline, full membership of any APS College will require a Masters degree in the relevant specialisation plus two years of approved supervised experience (or professional doctorate plus one).  The options of a non-standard or alternative route to college membership will no longer be available.  Psychologists wishing to receive specialist practice endorsement on the basis of their membership of the APS Colleges of Community or Health Psychology have until 9th June 2011 to complete their applications and lodge these with the APS. The APS will assess these applications in consultation with the College Membership Committee.   Successful applicants will then be eligible to apply to the PBA for area of practice endorsement.  So this really is the last chance for anyone without a specific Community Psychology Masters degree. For current students, the new rules apply to anyone who commenced their postgraduate degree (Masters/Doctorate) in 2011.  Any student who had commenced and was undertaking a higher degree on 30 June 2010 or who was a recent graduate on 30 June 2010 will be permitted to apply for an area of practice endorsement under the 'old' rules.

If you are not a Member, Associate Member, Affiliate or Student Subscriber of the APS, you can still subscribe to the Community Psychology email discussion list "CommPsych", (for no charge!). Do sign on - it's a great way to keep in touch with your community psychology community.  just go to https://lists.curtin.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/commpsych and follow the instructions for first-time subscribers.  You can also access the Community College's journal, The Australian Community Psychologist (ACP) online at http://www.groups.psychology.org.au/ccom/publications/

Let's know if you have any queries on any of the above - it's complicated!  Please join us in our celebratory event and information night on Friday 13th (!) May - see notice attached. (And by the way, we won the battle, so it's up to everyone who's eligible to join the college and make the effort worthwhile - our numbers grew by about 10% last year - let's see that happen again in 2011)

Best regards

Heather

Heather Gridley
Honorary Fellow
School of Social Sciences and Psychology
Victoria University
PO Box 14428
Melbourne VIC 8001
Australia

MOBILE: 0419 113 731
Email: heather.gridley at vu.edu.au<mailto:heather.gridley at vu.edu.au>


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