Eligibility for Clinical or Provisional membership
Check whether the course you have studied is on our list of accredited courses. If your course is listed, please follow the application checklist and apply now.
If the course you have studied is not accredited with PACFA, you must have studied a course that meets the following criteria:
- The course must be at an AQF Level 7 (Bachelor degree) or above;
- You must study over 2 or more years (part or full-time study is accepted);
- Within the course, there must be a minimum of 400 hours of instruction in counselling/psychotherapy specific subjects (ie. lectures, tutorials, workshops);
- of these 400 hours, 140 hours must be face-to-face and in person
- Additionally, within the course there must be a placement with a minimum of 40 hours of client contact, and 10 hours of supervision attached to this client contact.
In order to register with PACFA as a Clinical member, you must have studied a course that meets the above, and meet the following criteria:
- You have graduated from your counselling and/or psychotherapy course more than 2 years ago;
- You have accrued a minimum of 750 hours of client contact since graduating; and
- You have accrued a minimum of 75 hours of supervision on these client hours.
For both Provisional and Clinical membership, you must also hold Professional Indemnity and Public Liability Insurance. You can purchase this at a discounted rate with your PACFA membership, or provide proof that you have your own policy or are covered by your employer.
Read our application checklist.
Join as a Clinical Member
Join as a Provisional Member
In certain circumstances, PACFA can accept applications where we consider the totality of your studies across more than one course. Read about the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) pathway.
Eligibility for Academic membership
Eligibility for Academic membership is based on the following:
- You have relevant training, such as a degree or PhD in counselling and/or psychotherapy, or a degree in education;
- You have been employed in a teaching role with a minimum of a 0.5 workload (19 hours per week) for at least two years;
- You have made a contribution to the field through research and education, with things such as published papers and conference presentations; and
- You are insured for your teaching practise by your employer.
As Academic membership is a non-practising membership, if you see clients as a counsellor or psychotherapist, you must register as either Provisional or Clinical. Academic membership is only for those who teach or research but do not practise.
Join as an Academic Member
Eligibility for Affiliate membership
To join PACFA as an Affiliate member, you must be interested in the counselling and psychotherapy field, or use counselling skills to support clients through your work in another discipline.
Affiliate is a non-practising membership, and is not an endorsement by PACFA to practise.
Join as an Affiliate Member
Eligibility for Student membership
To join PACFA as a Student member, you must be enrolled in and currently studying a counselling and/or psychotherapy course. Once you have finished your studies, if they meet the requirements you will be able to apply for Provisional membership.
Read our student information pack.
Join as a Student Member