Overseas Applicants
Potential applicants who have studied overseas can apply for PACFA membership,
however the process is slightly different, and can take longer.
To apply:
-
Review the eligibility criteria (listed below) to determine whether your course
is likely to meet PACFA’s requirements.
-
Apply to VETASSESS
,
the Australian government assessment authority, which determines where your
qualification sits compared to an Australian qualification.
There are two assessment options with VETASSESS,
PACFA requires option 2:
‘assessment of the comparative educational level of your qualification(s) against
the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF)
and PACFA Registration Standards’.
-
If your VETASSESS application is successful,
submit your PACFA membership application
,
and include your outcome letter from VETASSESS.
-
If your completed qualification was not taught in English, or was taught in
English but not in one of the designated countries listed below, PACFA requires
that an English Language Test be provided with your application. Please find the
English Language Skills Standard
for PACFA’s accepted English language tests.
Designated overseas countries are:
New Zealand, Canada, Republic of Ireland, South Africa, United Kingdom,
and United States of America, as specified by the National Alliance of
Self Regulating Health Professionals (NASRHP) Standards May 2024.
Eligibility Criteria:
- Your course must be equivalent to a Bachelor degree or higher;
- Your study must have taken you 2 or more years (part or full-time study is accepted);
-
Within your course, there must be a minimum of 400 hours of learning
(ie. lectures, tutorials, workshops)
specifically in counselling/psychotherapy;
– 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.