How to Start a Private Psychology Practice in Australia

To start a private psychology practice in Australia you need general registration with the Psychology Board, professional indemnity insurance that covers your own practice rather than an employer's, an ABN and a business structure, a Medicare provider number if you intend to bill Better Access, and documented privacy, records and advertising processes that satisfy the National Law.

Most of that list is regulatory rather than commercial, and most of it has to be in place before the first client sits down, not after. This guide works through the setup in the order it actually bites: registration obligations first, then Medicare, then the business layer, then the paperwork and systems that carry the practice day to day.

What do you need in place before your first private client?

The short version, in sequence:

1. General registration with the Psychology Board of Australia, current and unrestricted for the work you plan to do.
2. Your own professional indemnity insurance arrangements.
3. An ABN and a business structure, plus a business bank account and accounting setup.
4. A Medicare provider number for the location you practise from, if you will bill under Better Access.
5. A privacy policy, a consent process and a records system that meets the Privacy Act.
6. A fee schedule, a cancellation policy and an intake process.
7. Advertising that complies with section 133 of the National Law.

Steps 1 and 2 are conditions of registration. Steps 3 to 7 are where new practice owners most often find out late that something is missing.

What does the Psychology Board require of you in private practice?

Registration standards do not change when you move from employment to your own practice, but who is responsible for meeting them does.

Professional indemnity insurance

Registered psychologists must have appropriate professional indemnity insurance (PII) arrangements in place under the Board's PII registration standard. If you are self-employed, the Board is explicit that you are unlikely to be covered for that work by an employer's policy, so you need your own arrangements covering every part of your practice.

Two details catch people out. First, the standard sets no minimum dollar amount: the Board's position is that the cover must be appropriate to the nature, context and risks of your practice, so what suits one psychologist may not suit another. Second, run-off cover matters. It protects you against claims that arise after you stop practising but relate to work you did while practising, and it may sit inside your policy or need to be bought separately. Keep the certificate of currency: you must be able to produce written evidence of your arrangements.

Continuing professional development

The Board's CPD requirements are 10 hours of peer consultation activities annually plus 20 hours of other CPD activities annually. In private practice nobody schedules this for you, and peer consultation in particular tends to be the first thing that slips when a caseload fills. Book it in as a recurring commitment before you take on clients, not in the last month of the registration period.

Keeping your details current

Your principal place of practice, contact details and registration information need to stay current with Ahpra. Update them through the practitioner portal when you open, move or add a location (Manage my details). The full set of standards that apply to you sits on the Board's registration standards page.

Do you need a Medicare provider number to start?

Not to practise. You need one to bill Medicare, and you need a separate provider number for each location you work from, which is why the application and the lease or room-hire arrangement usually have to be sorted together. We have covered the application in detail in Medicare Provider Number for Psychologists.

Before you take Better Access referrals, be clear on what the referral itself has to contain and how the session caps work. A plan is not a referral, and the difference causes more rejected claims than anything else in Australian private practice: see Mental Health Treatment Plans.

Decide your fee position at the same time. Whether you bulk bill, charge the recommended fee or set something between the two changes your break-even caseload. Psychologist Fees in Australia sets out what the current rebates and recommended fees look like.

How do you set up the business side?

You need an ABN, which you apply for through the Australian Business Register via business.gov.au, and a structure: sole trader, company, partnership or trust. That choice affects tax, liability and how you would later bring in another clinician, so it is worth an hour with an accountant rather than a guess.

On GST, psychology is one of the health services listed in subsection 38-10(1) of the GST Act. Under the ATO's guidance on other health services, a listed health service is GST-free where it is supplied by a recognised professional in that service and is generally accepted in the profession as necessary for the appropriate treatment of the recipient. Not everything a practice sells meets that test, and services such as some medico-legal reports, supervision or training may be treated differently, so confirm your own mix with your accountant.

What privacy obligations apply to a solo practice?

All of them. The small business exemption in the Privacy Act does not rescue a one-person practice: organisations that provide a health service and hold health information are covered regardless of turnover, as the OAIC sets out in its guidance for small business and its Guide to health privacy.

Practically, that means a privacy policy clients can read, a lawful basis for what you collect, storage that is actually secure, and a plan for the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme if client information is ever lost or exposed. It also means knowing your retention obligations from the start, because retention periods run from the last entry in the record and vary by state and by client age: see How Long to Keep Clinical Records in Australia.

Confidentiality limits belong in this layer too. Write down when you would disclose without consent and tell clients at intake, rather than working it out mid-crisis: When Can a Psychologist Break Confidentiality?

What can you say when you advertise a new practice?

Advertising a regulated health service is governed by section 133 of the National Law and Ahpra's advertising guidelines. The National Law does not allow testimonials or purported testimonials in advertising a regulated health service or a business that provides one.

Ahpra's testimonial guidance draws the line at clinical aspects: recommendations or positive statements about the clinical aspects of a service are testimonials and cannot be used, while comments about customer service or communication style that do not refer to clinical aspects are not testimonials and may be used. Ahpra also warns that selectively editing reviews can itself become misleading advertising.

So a new practice website can describe your training, your approach and how appointments work. It cannot carry a client saying the therapy helped their depression. The same rule applies to your own social posts and to anything you ask a client to write.

What paperwork should exist before session one?

Four documents do most of the work, and each has an operational consequence if it is missing:

• An informed consent form covering what you record, who can access it and the limits of confidentiality. See Informed Consent Forms for Counselling in Australia.
• A written cancellation policy, given before the first appointment, with a fee that is defensible under Australian Consumer Law. See Cancellation Policy for Psychology Practices.
• An intake and assessment structure so the first session produces a usable record rather than notes you rewrite later. See How to Write a Psychology Intake Assessment.
• A telehealth position, if you will offer it: consent, identity checks and location details all have to appear in the note. See Telehealth Documentation Requirements in Australia.

What systems do you need from day one?

Fewer than the software market suggests, but they need to connect. A calendar clients can book into, a client record that holds notes and documents securely, a way to raise invoices and reconcile Medicare payments, and a note workflow you can sustain at the end of a full day.

PractaLuma is AI-native practice management software for Australian mental-health practices, bringing clinical notes, client records, calendar and billing into one workspace, with clinical content reviewed by the clinician before it is filed. If you are still comparing options, Psychology Practice Management Software in Australia walks through what to look for, and the full feature list shows how the pieces fit.

The test for any system in a new practice is simple: at 6pm on a six-client day, does it let you finish your notes, or does it add a second job?

Frequently asked questions

Can I start a private practice with provisional registration? No. Provisional psychologists practise under supervision within an approved program, and cannot practise independently. Private practice requires general registration, and endorsement requirements apply separately if you intend to advertise an area of practice endorsement.

Do I need my own insurance if I also work for an employer? Yes. The Psychology Board's guidance is that an employer's arrangements are unlikely to cover self-employed practice, so your private work needs cover you hold yourself.

How much professional indemnity cover should I have? The registration standard sets no minimum figure. It requires cover appropriate to the nature, context and risks of your practice, so discuss your actual client mix and services with your insurer or broker rather than defaulting to the cheapest policy.

Can I ask happy clients for a Google review? You can accept comments about customer service or communication style, but you cannot use testimonials about clinical aspects of your service in advertising, and asking clients to review their treatment invites exactly that. Read Ahpra's testimonial guidance before you set up any review request.

How long do I have to keep records if I close the practice? Retention obligations survive the practice. Periods run from the last entry and differ between states and for records of clients seen as children, so plan storage and access before you wind anything down.