Checking psychologist’s registration

This article is general information, not professional advice. Emergency: 000

Three young ladies laughing wearing winter clothing. One is wearing a hat,.

In Australia, Psychologist is a protected title and can only be used by those who are accredited through the Psychology Board of Australia (PsyBA)1. It is illegal for somebody who is not registered with the board to call themselves a Psychologist in Australia2. According to PsyBA


the core role of the Psychology Board of Australia is to protect the public. One of the ways we do this is by making sure that only practitioners who have the skills and qualifications to provide safe care and psychological services to the Australian community are registered to practise in the psychology profession. All registered psychologists are included on the National Register of Practitioners3

Psychology Board of Australia (PsyBA)

Anybody is able to look up a psychologist on the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) register. This helps to ensure that the public can check whether those purporting to be a psychologist are actually registered. You can access the Register of Practitioners here. In 2018, AHPRA noted

It is a fact that some health practitioners practise their profession using a name that is different from their legally recognised name published on the register (an alias).3

Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)

This is often the case for a variety of reasons and is important to note when attempting to look up somebody on the register.

AHPRA believes that recording additional names (or aliases) on the register will help to inform and protect the public, by making it easier to identify a practitioner who may be registered and able to practise but who is not using their legal name4

Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)


As of the writing of this article, no changes have been made to the register to include aliases of individuals despite AHPRA’s thoughts on the matter above. Yet, AHPRA has noted that they have asked the Government to consider this issue5. For the time being, it is good to consider this when attempting to look up a practitioner on the register. If you are having difficulty looking a person up on the register, you can also look them up via their registration number if it is known to you or given to you by a practitioner on request.

  1. https://psychologyboard.gov.au ↩︎
  2. https://www.psychologyboard.gov.au/About/Education/Title-and-scope.aspx#:~:text=Understanding%20title%20protection%20and%20scope,to%20call%20themselves%20a%20psychologist ↩︎
  3. (https://www.ahpra.gov.au/News/2018-12-18-proposed-changes-to-names-published-on-the-register-of-practitioners.aspx ↩︎
  4. https://www.ahpra.gov.au/News/2018-12-18-proposed-changes-to-names-published-on-the-register-of-practitioners.aspx ↩︎
  5. https://www.ahpra.gov.au/News/2018-12-18-proposed-changes-to-names-published-on-the-register-of-practitioners.aspx ↩︎

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