Becoming a Sport Psychologist in Australia

Here at Sporting Bounce we list sport performance specialists and this includes sport psychologist and sport psychology consultants in Australia.  Like many of the pathways we have seen across the world there are of course some commonalities but there are also some unique differences and if you are considering working with a sport psychologist in Australia it is useful to know what education and training they have received. 

Below we outline the journey our sport psychologists in Australia will have gone through to achieve their qualifications and complete the endorsement in Sport and Exercise Psychology as required by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (and the Psychology Board of Australia).  We hope this information will be useful for those of you who are perhaps thinking of embarking on the journey yourself or those of who you are considering employing a sport psychologist in Australia.  You can also find more information on pathways to endorsement with the psychology board of Australia.

Becoming a Sport Psychologist in Australia

To become a sport psychologist in Australia you will need to follow the route to become an endorsed psychologist. This means you will have to do the following:

1. Complete an undergraduate psychology qualification and obtain provisional registration as a psychologist. 
2. Complete a postgraduate qualification (Masters or Doctorate) approved for endorsement. 
3. Undertake supervised training with an endorsed practitioner. This training period will vary based on the post-graduate qualification (e.g., it is 3000 hours if the candidate has an accredited Masters, qualification).
4. Once this has been achieved the candidate can gain endorsement from the Psychology Board of Australia as a registered Sports Psychologist.

It is clear that there is a rigorous and well established pathway for individuals who wish to become a sport psychologist in Australia. This is also a really useful article on a person's experiences of becoming a sport psychologist in Australia.

To check if a registered psychologist has an endorsement, review their registration details on the online Register of Practitioners. While there is a recognised route to sport psychology in Australia it is worth noting that some of the sport psychologists will describe themselves as performance psychologists, and this reflects the crossover between sport and other performance domains (e.g., dance).

Finally, please note that while we have the review function on our site it is illegal in Australia for Registered Psychologists (of any endorsement like Sport and Exercise Psychology) to use/have testimonials to promote their work. So we will not have any reviews on our site for our Australian Sport Psychologists, in contrast to those individuals from other countries. 

Further Information

If you would like to read more about some of the world’s best sport psychologists’ journeys, including two from Australia then this book on Becoming a Sport Psychologist edited by Sporting Bounce members Dr’s Paul McCarthy and Marc Jones may be of interest.

If you are interested in employing a sport psychologist then please remember to verify the background, qualifications and experience of any person whose services you are considering using

If you are interested in beginning your own journey to becoming a sport psychologist in Australia then we wish you all the very best in this rewarding profession.

Image by Andi Perdana from Pixabay