PACFA Professional Training Standards


These come into effect as of 1st January 2012

PACFA is a peak body for the profession of counselling and psychotherapy. It is comprised of Member Associations representing diverse modalities within the field of psychotherapy and counselling in Australia. Each Member Association has been assessed and audited by the PACFA Executive and met minimum levels in three areas: structure, ethics and training of members. As a peak body PACFA also sets standards for training of practitioners.

The PACFA Training Standards are different to the PACFA National Register Requirements. **As an individual you can only be listed on the PACFA National Register by having full membership with a Member Association.

If you have queries about training standards the following steps are suggested:

Step 1 Choose the Member Association you want to join or are already a member of and find out more about their training standard required by them especially as some MAs require that you meet training standards over and above PACFA minimum standards.
Step 2 Visit the PACFA website, view the 2012 Training Standards and cross check these with the training requirements of the Member Association in order to be a member of the association.The major policy changes can be viewed on this PDF
Step 3 Clarify with the Member Association any queries you may have as it is the responsibility of the Member Association to make decisions about their membership requirements – PACFA does not do this.
Step 4 Any final clarification may be made by e-mailing the PACFA office.

It is recommended that you read through the entire document PACFA Training Standards 2012 listed on this website. In summary these standards are at least Bachelor degree or equivalent in terms of level and depth of training, as defined by the Australian Qualification Framework (AQF – www.aqf.edu.au).

PACFA 2012 Professional Training Standards:
Members must have completed a Postgraduate Equivalent qualification over a minimum of two years, 200 hours of person-to-person psychotherapy and/or counselling training and 50 hours of supervision relating to 200 hours of client contact. A minimum of 10 hours of supervision relating to 40 client contact hours must have been taken place within the training program (These 10 hours are part of the 50 hours of supervision).
OR
An Undergraduate Equivalent qualification of 350 hours person-to-person training in counselling and or psychotherapy and 50 hours of supervision relating to 200 hours of client contact. This must be over a minimum of three years. A minimum of 10 hours of supervision relating to 40 client contact hours must have taken place within the training program These 10 hours are part of the 50 hours of supervision).

The important point to note is these are equivalent undergraduate and post-graduate qualifications. It does not mean training needs to be completed at a university.

Check out the Training Standards Frequently Asked Questions listed under PACFA FAQ’s.

For information on the development of these standards and an overview of the criteria please click below

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