Purpose
AAPTC is an organisation made up of psychology training clinic directors across Australia. The purpose of the AAPTC is to collaborate and share resources to allow best practice benchmarking and development, and to provide support to its member Clinic Directors and the Psychology Training Clinics they operate.
Contact: aaptcmembers@gmail.com
2026 AAPTC Executive
- Chair: Dr Leander Mitchell — Director of Clinical Training, University of Queensland, QLD
- Secretary: Catherine Brennan — Psychology Clinic Director, Swinburne University, VIC
Members
- Shane Vassallo — Psychology Clinic Director, University of New South Wales, NSW
- Jean McAusland-Green — Psychology Clinic Director, University of Southern Queensland, Ipswich, QLD
- Bruce van Haeften — Clinical Manager, Wellness Centre Psychology, Charles Darwin University, NT
- Catherine Brennan — Psychology Clinic Director, Swinburne University, VIC
- Matthew Smout — Senior Clinic Supervisor, UniSA Psychology Clinic, University of South Australia, SA
- Trevor Rule — Psychology Clinic Director, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC
Guidelines for Training Clinics 2022
This document was developed by the Australian Association of Psychology Teaching Clinics (AAPTC) in collaboration with the Association of Psychology Training Clinics (APTC; aptc.org) based in the USA. Read the guidelines (PDF).
Upcoming meetings & conferences — 2026
Quarterly general meetings (2 hrs each, 2–4pm AEDT):
- Friday 6 February 2026
- Tuesday 6 May 2026
- Thursday 6 August 2026
Annual conference: half-day conference scheduled for mid-October — specific date and time TBA.
National listserv
The national listserv is open to Directors and managers of Psychology Training Clinics. To join, email aaptcmembers@gmail.com.
Best practice working groups
- Benchmarking role and expectations for Clinical Supervisors working in Psychology training clinics
Terms of reference
The Australasian Association of Psychology Training Clinics (AAPTC) is a professional organisation open to all tertiary-level education institutions with a psychology training clinic in Australasia.
AAPTC specifically seeks to:
- provide leadership and promote high standards of professional psychology training and practice in psychology training clinics;
- facilitate the exchange of information and resources among psychology training clinics that provide tertiary-level education and training in postgraduate-level psychology training; and
- interface with related professional groups and organisations to further the goals of AAPTC, including influencing the establishment of standards and guidelines on service delivery and training of future psychologists.
Specific goals and objectives
- Provide regular forums for exchange of information and resources relevant to all aspects of tertiary-level education and postgraduate training in professional psychology.
- Promulgate administrative and practice recommendations for the professional operation of psychology training clinics.
- Represent the views of the membership regarding tertiary-level training, research, and service in professional psychology to relevant organisations — such as APAC, the Psychology Board of Australia (AHPRA), APS and ACPA.
- Advocate for the financial and resource support of psychology training clinics in their respective academic communities.
- Establish and maintain the AAPTC executive committee and time- and task-limited task-force working groups to support AAPTC’s goals and objectives.
- Promote ethical and legal standards of professional psychology training, supervision, service delivery, applied research, and administration.
- Recognise and support a full range of activities in psychology training clinics, including postgraduate-level training, service delivery, research, and community outreach.
Membership
AAPTC membership is open to the staff member leading the psychology training clinic(s) associated with postgraduate psychology training courses / programs (e.g., clinic director / manager / deputy director / senior clinical supervisor). Members, typically in a university faculty position, lead and support the clinics involved in training tertiary-level psychology students, who are supervised by endorsed clinic supervisors.
Governance
The AAPTC is governed by an Executive Committee composed of a Chair, Secretary and other committee members. The Chair presides over Executive Committee meetings. The Secretary is responsible for formal correspondence, documenting proceedings, and maintaining membership records. The Executive Committee reviews the Terms of Reference at a minimum of every five years.