Addressing Critical Psychology Shortages - Supporting Provisional Psychologists to Practice extension

The Australian Government recognises the current bottlenecks in the psychology training pipeline and the impacts this has on workforce availability and service delivery. Strategies are needed to reduce attrition between the number of students commencing undergraduate psychology studies and those going on to practice. The grant program will support provisional psychologists to practice by increasing the availability of internships.

This grant opportunity was announced as part of the Australian Government’s election commitment to provide funding for an additional 1,500 one-year internships for provisional psychologists in the ‘5+1 training pathway’ – a pathway to general registration which involves a five-year sequence of accredited study (e.g. Master of Professional Psychology) followed by a one-year internship. This pathway is hindered by a lack of supervised internships available and the cost of these internships to interns, supervisors, and practices. Funding will be available in 2026-27 and is anticipated to support approximately 500 internships each year until 2028-29.

To be eligible you must be one of the following entity types:

• Indigenous Corporation (registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and /or Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006)
• Company 
• Corporate Commonwealth Entity
• Non-Corporate Commonwealth Statutory Authority 
• Corporate State or Territory Entity 
• Non-corporate State or Territory Entity 
• Non-corporate State or Territory Statutory Authority
• Local Government
• Cooperative
• Incorporated Association
• Sole Trader 
• Statutory Entity 
• Partnership
• Person, or
• Unincorporated Association.

If you are applying as a Trustee on behalf of a Trust, the Trustee must have an eligible entity type as listed above.

Applications from consortia are acceptable, providing there is a lead organisation that is solely accountable to the Commonwealth for the delivery of grant activities and is an eligible entity as per the list above. Only the lead organisation can submit the application form and enter into a grant agreement with the Commonwealth. Eligible organisations can form a consortium with ineligible organisations, with the exception of those organisations deemed ineligible because they are included on the National Redress Scheme’s website on the list of ‘Institutions that have not joined or signified their intent to join the Scheme’.