Australian psychologists must understand some very important points about the APS White Paper, especially in relation to the extra sessions that are proposed. They come at considerable long term cost. Essentially, what we will end up with is a two-tiered system but with much more division between generalist psychologists and endorsed psychologists than the existing system. It is also very unclear whether the inclusion of endorsements will make much…
The APS ‘White Paper’ cites 3 references in support of its contention that there is an evidence base to the idea that only clinical psychologists or some AoPE are appropriate to treat High Intensity Disorders. In some ways this is an improvement on the ‘green paper’ – we have lost Pirkis et al. (2011) – parting is such sweet sorrow. In other ways, it’s even worse. None of the…
White Paper Recommendation 17 Scheduled Fees: Extend the higher rebate to all endorsed psychologists. Since at least 2003, past and present industry power brokers have hawked their perspective of the psychology profession to Government. Uniformly, they have denigrated psychologists who do not hold endorsement in clinical psychology as being unfit to provide services in the public healthcare system. The introduction of the two-tier structure to psychological services under the…
As our once beloved Australian Psychological Society releases its Medicare manifesto, its self-interest and callous disregard for the needs of our communities validates our decade of distress and anger. It also strengthens our determination to awaken the community and the profession to the malignant values it now openly embraces. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nicely designed document. Nice cover. Great font. Front picture could have been less ambiguous….
RAPS is informed that the APS will release its White Paper on Thursday to APS members only. Whilst the contents are unlikely to be surprising to most with an understanding of the devastating injustice wrought on the profession, there remains a significant number of non-clinical psychologists who are unaware of the perilous situation they are in. They are likely to be convinced by the eloquent rhetoric employed by the…
Dear Minister Hunt Firstly, RAPS would like to say congratulations to the Liberal Government in the recent Federal Election. The victory was truly remarkable and a testament to the party. It also revealed that the majority voice is often silent whilst the vocal minority creates an inaccurate perception about what the community wants. This is particularly relevant to the current debate in psychology which is being led by a…
Men and the Australian public may lose out due to the APS promoting inadequate mental health treatment pathways in Australia. A recent study released by Beyond Blue yesterday has found that the rate of male suicide may be worse than previously thought. The study, believed to be a world first, investigated data from ambulance call-outs. The number of Ambulance call outs for reasons related to mental health were triple…
Are you an active APS supporter? If not, don’t let them count you as an active, or lapsed, member on 31 May which is their membership census date. Like Hotel California, it’s not straightforward to leave the APS! You need to explicitly resign and specify a date (i.e., “immediately,” 28 May 2019, 29 May 2019, or 30 May 2019), or your membership will remain active until July, well beyond…
Friday, the 31st of May is APS census day. Large numbers of APS Members simply did not renew their membership prior to or in 2018. Many others are planning either to not renew or to resign their memberships before this Friday. Alarmingly, RAPS has had many reports that numerous psychologists are discovering that their membership remains active and, in some cases, indicated as fully paid when no such payment…
APS will capture the size of their membership next Friday, 31 May. Anyone intending to resign will need to act now, or be counted as a supportive member. The only way APS can credibly claim that they are the leading association representing psychology in Australia, is through having more members than any other association. Last financial year, the APS Annual Report claimed a membership of 24,059. Correspondence from the…
