Yesterday the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) met with the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) and the Department of Health to understand details around the $300,000 allocation in the budget and the development of National Standards for Counsellors and Psychotherapists (“the project”). The Department will commence the project in the coming months (with ACA, PACFA and an external consultant) to look at defining national standards across the sector, covering areas such as Education, Accreditation, Supervision, Complaints, Ongoing Professional Development, Credentialling and Pathways. The project is also planned to explore service delivery models and where counsellors and psychotherapists are best placed to deliver services in mental health.

The development of these standards has the potential to stimulate further discussions regarding the role of counsellors and psychotherapists within the sector. The project is expected to run for a 2-year period with an outcome that will strengthen the profession.

We appreciate that this will raise a lot of questions with regards to what this means. As the project has not yet commenced, there is no further information or specific outcomes available. ACA will be reinstating a monthly newsletter to ensure timely communication to you on these and other matters of interest. The newsletter will be delivered to your registered email address. We encourage you to keep an eye on all ACA communication channels as they are the only authorised platforms that Members should be reading pertaining to their membership, news, and advocacy. During this period, it is crucial that we maintain business as usual and, as a counselling community, continue to focus our efforts on providing much-needed mental health support to those in need.

We would like to thank all Members for the impactful work you do, making a difference to the lives of so many people.