To become a Board-approved supervisor in psychology you must have held general registration for at least three years and completed all three parts of full training with a Psychology Board-approved provider. You then apply on form ABAS-76. Approval lasts five years from the date you complete Part 3, and refresher training is required to keep it.
What is a Board-approved supervisor, and when is one required?
A Board-approved supervisor is an experienced psychologist the Psychology Board of Australia has approved to assess competence in practitioners working towards general registration or an area of practice endorsement. The Board is explicit that it uses only the word "approved": you cannot describe yourself as an "accredited" or "endorsed" supervisor, because both terms have specific and different meanings under the National Law.
Board approval is required for seven pathways: the 4+2 internship, the 5+1 internship, higher degree placements, work in addition to those placements, the registrar program, the re-entry program after not practising, and the transitional program for overseas-qualified applicants.
Plenty of supervision sits outside that list. Line management, supervision of a research dissertation, peer consultation and supervision undertaken for CPD purposes do not require Board-approved supervisor status at all.
What are the eligibility requirements to become a Board-approved supervisor?
There are only two eligibility gates, and they are cumulative. You must have held general registration as a psychologist for at least three years, or hold overseas registration or licensure the Board assesses as equivalent. And you must have successfully completed all three parts of full training with a Board-approved training provider.
You must also currently hold general registration when you apply. The ABAS-76 form stops applicants at that question: if the answer is no, you are not eligible. Non-practising registration is equally disqualifying. Providing supervision meets the National Law definition of "practice", so supervising while non-practising means practising without the right registration type, and regulatory action can follow. Non-practising registrants are removed from the searchable supervisor list.
Any conditions or restrictions on your registration that relate to, affect, or are likely to affect your capacity to supervise must be declared on the application.
What does Board-approved supervisor training involve?
Full training is competency-based and has three parts that must be completed in sequence:
- Part 1, knowledge assessment. At least seven hours of self-directed preparatory work covering best-practice supervision and the Board's own codes, guidelines and policies. You must pass an online assessment to complete it.
- Part 2, skills training workshop. A two-day workshop requiring direct or live training, focused on integrating knowledge with practical supervision skills across all supervisee pathways and on reflective supervision practice.
- Part 3, competency-based assessment and evaluation. You submit an electronic recording of a real supervision session plus a written reflection on it. The provider assesses your demonstration of the supervisor competencies and awards a pass or fail with feedback.
Twenty-four providers are approved to deliver supervisor training until 31 December 2028, and the Board publishes the list with contact details. Read that table before you enrol, because it is a matrix rather than a list: providers are approved part by part, and several cover only master classes or only individual parts. Combining providers across parts is permitted, but confirming coverage is on you. Videoconference delivery is acceptable for any reason, including preference, provided the provider is Board-approved.
When should you start supervisor training?
You can begin full training once you have held general registration for two and a half years, six months before you are eligible for approval itself. The Board sets that window deliberately so that Part 3 lands close to your three-year mark.
It also advises against starting earlier, and the reason is financial rather than procedural. Your five-year approval term runs from the date you complete Part 3, not from the date the Board grants approval. Finish the assessment component a year early and you have spent a year of your own approval period waiting to become eligible. Part 3's completion date is what you record on the form, so the clock cannot be reset later.
How do you apply, and what becomes public?
Once you meet both requirements, you apply using form ABAS-76, attaching your certificate or certificates of completion for all three parts. A printed copy of the certificate the provider emailed you is sufficient, and originals are not required. The form must be lodged through Ahpra's online upload service rather than emailed.
Approval puts you on the Board's searchable list of supervisors, and it is worth knowing exactly what appears there before you apply. Search results display your name, registration number, the suburb and postcode of your principal place of practice, and the date your approval expires. If you hold Registrar Program Principal Supervisor approval, that shows too, along with the areas of practice it covers.
Contactability is separate. You choose whether to appear as available to prospective supervisees, and messages reach you through an Ahpra-hosted form that hides your email address until you reply. A supervisor online portal lets you switch availability and change your nominated supervisee-contact email, which is not the address the Board itself uses.
How do you maintain your approval, and what does the declaration commit you to?
The publicly headlined requirement is refresher training at least once every five years, with the minimum being one Board-approved master class: a competency-based workshop of at least six hours of direct training. Multiple master classes also satisfy it, as does Part 2 of full training on its own, or Parts 1 and 2, or Parts 2 and 3, or all three parts. When you finish, you lodge form MBAS-76 with your certificate and your approval extends five years from the date you completed the refresher training.
The self-declaration you sign on ABAS-76 goes further than that five-year cycle, and this is the obligation most often missed. You declare that you will maintain and develop your supervision skills by completing Board-approved training at least every five years, by including some professional supervision or peer consultation focused specifically on your practice as a supervisor, and by undertaking professional development relevant to your supervision skills in your CPD at least every two years. A two-year rhythm therefore sits underneath the five-year one.
Supervisor training counts towards your CPD requirements, and providers must state on the certificate how much CPD can be claimed and whether any of it was peer consultation. Being a Board-approved trainer yourself grants no exemption: the Board treats training others and developing your own supervision capability as different things.
What happens if supervisor approval lapses or is revoked?
Lapsing carries a penalty that is easy to underestimate. If you do not give the Board evidence of refresher training within five years, your status lapses and your name comes off the list. Getting it back means completing a full training program again, all three parts. A missed six-hour master class is therefore recovered by redoing a seven-hour knowledge module, a two-day workshop and a recorded assessment.
The consequence lands on your supervisees as well: supervision provided while you are not approved is not recognised by the Board as meeting the supervised practice requirements of the pathway they are completing. The declaration you signed obliges you to tell your supervisees immediately if your status has lapsed or been revoked, and to tell them their supervision will not count.
Extensions are narrow. Requests must be in writing and lodged before your status lapses, they are considered only for exceptional circumstances beyond your control, and the Board states plainly that planned leave such as parental leave, long service leave or travel is not a sufficient reason. Revocation is a separate matter from lapsing, and reinstatement after revocation can require you to complete remediation the Board has specified.
How is a Registrar Program Principal Supervisor different?
Principal supervision of a registrar needs a second, additional approval category. To obtain it you must hold endorsement in the relevant area of practice and have held it for at least two years, or hold an equivalent overseas qualification the Board accepts. The category is granted per area of practice, across the nine approved areas.
There is a useful shortcut here. If you are already a Board-approved supervisor and you become eligible, you do not lodge a fresh ABAS-76: you add the category through a written request to Ahpra using the online web enquiry. If you are not yet a Board-approved supervisor, you complete full training and select the Registrar Program Principal Supervisor category on the ABAS-76 itself. Secondary supervisors of registrars need no additional approval beyond ordinary Board-approved supervisor status.
What supervisors should keep on file
Supervisor approval is a documentation obligation as much as a training one. Worth keeping accessible: certificates for all three parts, your Part 3 completion date, your approval expiry date, each refresher certificate with its stated CPD value, and a record of the two-yearly supervision-focused development the declaration requires. Session records for each supervisee belong alongside them, and our guide to clinical supervision notes covers what those should contain.
PractaLuma is AI-native practice management software for Australian mental-health practices, so the supervision and documentation load sits in the same system as your clinical records rather than in a separate spreadsheet. You can see how that works across our features, or check plans and pricing.
Frequently asked questions
Can I supervise a provisional psychologist without Board approval?
Not if they are completing an internship, a higher degree placement, work in addition to a placement, a re-entry program or a transitional program. All of those require a Board-approved supervisor, and the Board will not recognise supervision from anyone else. Line management, research dissertation supervision, peer consultation and CPD supervision sit outside the requirement.
How do I check whether my supervisor is actually Board-approved?
Search the Board's list of supervisors by exact name spelling or registration number. The record shows any Registrar Program Principal Supervisor approval and its areas of practice, plus the date they must apply to maintain approval. No result may simply mean they are not approved, so raise it before you accumulate hours.
Does supervisor training count towards CPD?
Yes. Both full training and master classes can count towards your annual CPD, and towards CPD for an area of practice endorsement where the training is relevant to a goal in your learning plan. Providers must record the claimable CPD, including any peer consultation component, on your certificate.
Do I need to redo everything if I miss my refresher deadline?
Yes. Once approval has lapsed, reinstatement requires completing a full Board-approved training program again, not a master class. If you can see the deadline approaching and genuinely cannot meet it for reasons outside your control, lodge a written extension request before the lapse date rather than after.
This article summarises Psychology Board of Australia requirements current at the time of writing and is general information, not regulatory advice. Confirm requirements against the Board's own guidelines and forms before applying.