I’ve used Notebook LM to summarise my notes from AHPRA’s webinar Professional competencies and Code of Conduct on July 29 2025.

I hope this is helpful to you. If you’re in a hurry, just click here to hear the audio summary.

This webinar outlined essential adjustments psychologists may need to make in their practices in light of the updated Code of Conduct and competencies. The new Code provides more prescriptive guidance, particularly regarding areas of risk, aiming to educate and forewarn psychologists rather than simply police them.

Key Practice Changes and Areas of Heightened Attention:

  1. Enhanced Informed Consent Processes:

    • Transparency and Comprehensiveness: Consent is paramount and must be full, free, and informed, ensuring clients are aware of all risks and expectations, especially in delicate or complex therapeutic contexts. It is considered an ongoing process, not a singular event.
    • Multiple/Simultaneous Services: When a psychologist agrees to facilitate a meeting involving multiple individuals (e.g., a client and their parents), they must meticulously explain their new role, clarify what information will be collected and shared, and outline the limits of confidentiality to each person, as this constitutes a “simultaneous service”. The original client must provide considered consent regarding what previously shared information can be disclosed in this new context.
    • Consent for Minors: When working with young people, psychologists must carefully assess the age, maturity, and cognitive capacity of the minor to understand the nature of the service and provide consent. It is crucial to document the rationale for deeming a young person mature enough to give consent, ensuring it is free from undue influence.
    • Cultural Nuances: Consent must be gained using culturally appropriate language and understanding, particularly for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth and other multicultural communities, to ensure genuine comprehension.
    • Documentation of Consent: While a signature is not always required, contemporaneous notes of verbal consent are essential, detailing what was discussed and agreed upon. Electronic consent is also deemed acceptable.

  2. Navigating Multiple Relationships with Greater Vigilance:

    • Strict Avoidance (Default Position): Psychologists should endeavour to avoid multiple relationships unless there is an overriding ethical obligation. If such a relationship is undertaken, it must be clearly documented with justification. Standard 4.9 is highlighted as particularly important to review.
    • Client Impact and Boundaries: Before entering into such relationships, psychologists must carefully consider the potential impact on the client and what might be “lost” or changed in the therapeutic relationship. Maintaining clear professional boundaries is the psychologist’s explicit obligation, especially since clients may be naive or test these boundaries.
    • Personal Vulnerability: Psychologists should be acutely aware of their own vulnerabilities, particularly when they find clients attractive or share many common interests, as this can be a significant risk factor. This underscores the critical importance of regular self-reflection and peer consultation in such scenarios.

  3. Embedding Cultural Safety into Practice:

    • Community Consultation: When working with Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, or other culturally diverse communities, psychologists should consult with elders and community leaders to ensure services align with community needs and are culturally appropriate.
    • Relational Approach and Self-Disclosure: While relational approaches are fundamental in many cultures (e.g., Aboriginal), any self-disclosure (such as sharing one’s “mob” origin) must be brief, purposeful, and enhance the therapy for the client, rather than shifting the focus to the psychologist. This should be treated as a cultural protocol and documented.
    • Gift-Giving and Reciprocity: Psychologists must be sensitive to cultural norms around gift-giving and reciprocity. The Code offers a clear framework (e.g., Standard 8.13D) to politely decline gifts (other than tokens of minimal monetary and non-sentimental value) while explaining the professional boundaries. This approach helps to maintain the therapeutic relationship rather than causing rupture or perceived rejection.
    • Avoiding “Cases”: It is crucial to be acutely aware of the historical context in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been “studied as cases”. When providing teaching or training, it is preferable to use composite fictional case studies rather than specific, personalised client stories, even if de-identified, to respect sacred stories and regain trust within these communities.

  4. Strengthening Supervision and Self-Reflection:

    • Core Ethical Practice: Engaging in deep, reflexive practice and consistent supervision is fundamental for navigating ethical dilemmas effectively. This includes a minimum of 10 hours of self-reflection for registered psychologists.
    • Navigating Conflicts: Supervisors bear a key responsibility to assist provisional psychologists in navigating challenges that may arise from discrepancies between organisational policies and the Code of Conduct. Seeking peer consultation is also strongly encouraged in complex situations.
    • Transparency in Supervision: Psychologists should be transparent with clients about the purpose of supervision – explaining that it is primarily to enhance their own professional practice and ensure they provide the best possible service, rather than to discuss the client’s actions or pathology.
    • Documentation of Reflection: Personal reflections, ethical decision-making processes, and rationales for actions, particularly for spur-of-the-moment decisions, should be documented in supervision records or a reflective practice journal.

  5. Prudent Communication and Documentation:

    • Digital Communication: Extreme caution should be exercised with informal communications like emails and text messages, as they can lose nuance and are a frequent source of notifications. All communication must adhere to standards of being respectful, compassionate, and honest.
    • Rigorous De-identification: When discussing client situations with supervisors or for teaching purposes, maximum de-identification is paramount. This involves stripping away all potentially identifying information beyond just the name, aiming for the least identifying details possible. If information is to be used in an educational setting beyond supervision, specific client consent is required.

In summary, the new Code of Conduct encourages psychologists to adopt a more proactive, transparent, and critically reflective approach to their practice. This is particularly relevant when considering informed consent, managing multiple relationships, ensuring cultural safety, and utilising supervision effectively. The goal is to align all professional actions with the highest ethical standards. Psychologists are advised against excessive anxiety over isolated errors, as issues typically stem from broader patterns of behaviour. Instead, they should view the Code as a valuable guide for continuous professional development and effective risk management.