May 29

New APS Practice Guidelines (2025): What Psychologists Actually Need to Know

Over the past year, the Australian Psychological Society has released a substantial suite of Professional Practice Guidelines to sit alongside the Psychology Board of Australia’s 2025 Code of Conduct.

If you’ve seen the growing list and wondered whether this means another layer of rules then you’re not alone.

The short answer is reassuring: these guidelines are not new rules. They are designed to help psychologists apply the existing Code more confidently in areas of practice that have become more complex, visible, or higher risk.

What are the APS Professional Practice Guidelines?

The APS guidelines are practice guidance documents. They are written to support psychologists to interpret and apply the Code of Conduct in real-world situations, particularly where the Code is necessarily broad.

They tend to focus on areas where psychologists often ask:
  • What does good practice look like here?
  • How do I balance competing obligations?
  • What do I need to think about before making this decision?
Importantly, they are:
  • non-regulatory
  • advisory, not prescriptive
  • intended to be used alongside professional judgement
They do not replace the Code, and they do not override legal obligations or Board requirements.

What do they add that wasn’t there before?

The 2025 guidelines don’t so much introduce new ethical principles as add clarity and specificity in areas where practice has evolved quickly.

Across the suite, they tend to add:
  • clearer articulation of decision points (rather than abstract principles)
  • stronger emphasis on documentation and reasoning
  • guidance for contexts that weren’t as prominent in earlier Codes, such as telehealth as routine practice, AI and digital tools, social media and public commentary, supervision as a distinct service and working across systems, groups, and multiple roles.
They also reinforce that many ethical processes are ongoing, not a one-off such as consent, risk assessment, and suitability of service delivery.

What power or authority do the guidelines have?

This is a common and important question.

APS Professional Practice Guidelines:
  • are not enforceable in themselves
  • do not create new legal obligations
  • cannot be used on their own to discipline a psychologist
However, they do have practical significance.

They may be used:
  • as evidence of accepted professional practice
  • to inform how a psychologist’s decisions are understood or evaluated
  • to support a psychologist in explaining why a particular course of action was reasonable
In other words, they don’t tell you what you must do but they can help demonstrate that what you did was thoughtful, informed, and defensible.

Do I need to read all of them?

Probably not.

Most psychologists don’t need to read every guideline cover to cover. A more realistic approach is to:
  • know which guidelines exist, and
  • consult the relevant one when you’re working in that area or facing an ethical grey zone.
They work best as practice companions, not compulsory reading lists.

What this means for everyday practice

For most psychologists, these guidelines won’t require dramatic changes. Instead, they tend to:
  • validate cautious instincts you already have
  • encourage clearer documentation of your reasoning
  • support you to slow down and check assumptions in complex situations
They are less about doing more and more about doing deliberately.
"Entrepreneurs don’t love risk but they’re willing to manage it in pursuit of autonomy."

A final word

The release of this suite of guidelines reflects something important:

Psychological practice is becoming more complex, more visible, and more interconnected with technology, systems, and public spaces.

Used well, APS guidelines are not another burden, they’re a support.

If you’re ever unsure, the question they consistently invite psychologists to ask is a simple one: Is this decision safe, respectful, and defensible — and can I explain how I reached it?

If the answer is yes, you’re usually on solid ground.

APS members can access all of the guidelines here. 

If you are not yet confident with the new Code of Conduct you can access our on-demand courses which include advice from the APS guidelines throughout.