A practical Australian guide to psychology supervision agreements, including confidentiality, assessment, records, conflicts, dual roles and exit arrangements.
Educational information, not individual clinical, legal or regulatory advice. No independent review is identified for this article. Editorial policy and corrections.
Scheduled review: 13 April 2027. This is not a completed review date.
A supervision agreement should explain what each person is agreeing to before uncertainty, disagreement or a safety concern puts the relationship under pressure.
Dates, fees and signatures are a start. The agreement also needs to address confidentiality, competence assessment, records, information sharing, conflicts and what happens when the arrangement ends.
These questions become harder when your supervisor also employs you, sets your caseload or assesses your workplace performance. A disclosure made to improve clinical practice may have consequences elsewhere. Both people should understand those consequences before supervision begins.
Information checked on 13 October 2026. The Psychology Board of Australia's Code of conduct took effect on 1 December 2025, replacing the APS Code of Ethics as the Board's regulatory framework. APS professional practice guidelines support members in applying the Code; they are not legislation or separate Board registration standards. The Board’s December 2025 5+1 fact sheets cover setting up a supervisory relationship, managing disputes and mandatory notifications. The checklist below is a practical editorial framework that builds on them. It is not a reproduction of the member-only APS supervision guideline. Check the current Board documents and the requirements of your particular pathway before signing an agreement.
An agreement for a 5+1 internship serves a different purpose from voluntary professional supervision for a generally registered psychologist. A registrar program also has its own requirements. Board-directed supervision following a notification or return to practice may involve specific conditions and reporting instructions.
Write down the pathway and purpose rather than simply calling everything “clinical supervision”.
| Arrangement | What the agreement should establish |
|---|---|
| 5+1 internship | How the agreement supports the approved internship plan, principal and secondary supervision, competence assessment, observation and reporting |
| Registrar program | The relevant area of practice, required supervisor approval, learning objectives and current registrar requirements |
| Employment-based supervision | Whether the supervisor also has managerial or employment authority, and how the roles and information flows will be handled |
| External professional supervision | Scope, expertise, consultation limits, record access and links with workplace safety procedures |
| Board-directed supervision | The specific approval, conditions, reporting duties and documents governing that arrangement |
A signed private agreement does not replace Board approval, an internship plan or a registration condition. Nor can it waive professional obligations. The Board’s supervisory-relationship fact sheet recommends discussing and documenting the arrangement in writing; the required INPP-76 itself is a formal agreement between the supervisor(s), provisional psychologist and Board.
If you are comparing supervision arrangements, see Internal vs External Supervision: Benefits, Risks and Dual Roles.
Specify what supervision is intended to achieve and the work it covers. Include the client populations, practice settings and competencies relevant to the supervisee's role.
Also identify what sits outside the arrangement. A supervisor with expertise in one area may need to arrange additional input for unfamiliar assessments, presentations or practice contexts.
The agreement should answer:
Discuss how advice will be recorded and followed up. “My supervisor said it was fine” does not record the clinical reasoning, the information considered or the actions taken.
Avoid promising that everything said in supervision stays between the two people. Formal supervision can include assessment, reporting and action to protect clients or the public.
Explain separately how information about the supervisee and information about their clients will be handled.
For the supervisee, identify:
For client material, address consent, de-identification, secure transfer, access to records and the handling of direct observation or recordings. Removing a name does not necessarily prevent identification, particularly in a small service or community.
The Board's 5+1 guidelines specifically identify informed consent, privacy and confidentiality as ethical issues in observing practice. Agree on how these will be addressed before using live observation or audiovisual recordings. In a 5+1 internship the supervisor observes at least four sessions every six months, two assessment and two intervention. A recording counts only if it gives a clear view of each party, including facial expressions. The guide to supervision hours that count explains how observation, individual supervision and secondary supervision fit together.
For group supervision, include participant confidentiality expectations and restrictions on recording or redistributing material. An agreement cannot guarantee that another participant will never breach those expectations, so the information shared should remain proportionate.
Supervision can support learning while also evaluating whether practice meets the required standard. Make the evaluative role visible.
Specify the competencies or goals being assessed, the evidence used, when feedback is provided and how concerns will be recorded. Feedback should identify the behaviour or skill, its clinical significance and the next steps.
In a 5+1 internship, the principal supervisor oversees the provisional psychologist's practice and completes the final assessment of competence. The Board requires at least one secondary supervisor, approved by the principal supervisor and holding Board-approved supervisor status. Secondary supervisors contribute supervision, training and feedback to the principal. Their involvement adds support. They report to the principal supervisor and do not complete the final assessment.
An agreement might establish that:
For a practical explanation of the review itself, see what happens during a 5+1 progress review.
Developmental feedback and formal concerns need clear labels. A supervisee should understand whether a discussion is ordinary learning feedback or a concern that could affect practice, employment or regulatory progression.
“Who owns the supervision notes?” is only one part of the records question. Custody, access, permitted use and retention also matter, and the answers can depend on law, employment arrangements and organisational policy.
The agreement should identify:
In a 5+1 internship the logbook includes a summary of each supervision session and the supervisor's feedback. The supervisor reviews it regularly, and it must reach Ahpra within 14 days if the Board asks for it.
For a workable record-keeping routine, see the LBPP-76 weekly system.
Keep the purposes distinct. A client record, supervision record, internship logbook and employment-performance record are different documents, even when some information overlaps.
Do not invent a universal retention period or promise unrestricted access to every note. Check the requirements applying to the record and setting. Equally, avoid vague wording that leaves a supervisee unable to obtain the records needed to demonstrate completed training.
When one person holds several roles, map their authority explicitly.
| Role | Questions to resolve |
|---|---|
| Clinical supervisor | What advice, oversight and consultation do they provide? |
| Competence assessor | What evidence do they evaluate and what reports do they complete? |
| Line manager | Can they allocate work, approve leave or initiate performance management? |
| Employer or business owner | Do they control employment, fees, billable targets or supervision funding? |
Ordinary line-management or HR input does not count as psychological supervision. Contributions from related professions, including human resources management, are recorded as education and training or client-related activity, as determined by the principal supervisor. A line manager who is also an appropriately Board-approved supervisor can provide psychological supervision when acting in that role under the internship's supervision arrangements.
Working within the same organisation does not, by itself, establish unethical supervision. It does create questions about competing interests that a signature alone cannot resolve.
For example, a supervisee may disclose that their caseload is exceeding their current capacity. The supervisor needs to consider safe practice and learning. If the same person is responsible for revenue and staffing, their response also involves business interests.
The agreement should explain how those interests will be addressed. Practical safeguards include distinct meeting purposes, clear information-sharing limits, access to independent consultation and an alternative reviewer for disputes involving the supervisor.
If reflective discussion becomes a formal performance or safety process, name that transition. Explain the issue, the process now being used and what information will be recorded or shared.
These are proposed safeguards, not a claim that every workplace must use the same structure. Their adequacy depends on the actual risks and professional obligations.
“Raise concerns with your supervisor” is incomplete when the concern is about the supervisor.
Include a route for disagreements about clinical advice, assessment, records, boundaries or the supervision process itself. Identify someone outside the disputed relationship who can advise or review the concern, where available.
A practical sequence is to clarify the disagreement, identify any immediate safety issue, obtain appropriate independent advice and record the agreed next steps. An urgent safety concern may require action before an ordinary dispute process is completed.
The Board's 5+1 fact sheet on disputes suggests starting with a consultation and trying to settle the matter by negotiation in good faith. It also suggests acknowledging any power imbalance, consulting a senior colleague or professional association, and going back to the signed internship plan. If no agreement is reached, either person can end the arrangement. The provisional psychologist then needs a new supervisor to continue the internship.
Separate workplace escalation, Board reporting and mandatory notifications. They serve different purposes. A difficult supervisory relationship or disagreement does not automatically meet a mandatory-notification threshold.
Ahpra's mandatory-notification guidance distinguishes treating practitioners, non-treating practitioners and employers. Provisional psychologists are registered practitioners for this purpose. In WA, the treating-practitioner exemption should not be assumed to apply to a supervisor merely because the supervisee discusses their health. The role in which information was obtained matters.
The Board's 5+1 fact sheet says a supervisor may need to notify about an intern, and an intern about a supervisor. Where the mandatory threshold is not met, a voluntary notification can still be made, for example for failing to follow the 5+1 or supervisor guidelines.
The agreement should direct both parties to current guidance and appropriate advice rather than suggesting every health disclosure must be reported. The confidentiality and mandatory reporting guide explains why a health disclosure and a notification threshold are different questions.
Specify the frequency, duration and format of scheduled supervision, how cancellations are managed and how missed sessions are replaced.
Then establish the arrangements between appointments:
The Board recommends weekly supervision in a 5+1 internship. The year needs at least 80 hours, with at least 50 as individual supervision with the principal supervisor. If both the principal and secondary supervisor are unavailable at the same time, the provisional psychologist must stop practising immediately and tell the Board in writing within seven days of the arrangement ending.
A weekly appointment is not an emergency response system. External supervision needs a workable connection to the people who can respond within the workplace.
For a 5+1 internship, the Board expects the principal supervisor to be onsite at the main place of practice. An offsite arrangement requires approval through the internship plan and adequate onsite support. The private agreement should reflect the approved arrangement rather than assume remote supervision alone is sufficient.
Document who pays, the rate, session length and what additional work attracts a fee. Clarify charges for report preparation, reviewing material, contact between sessions and cancellation.
For employer-funded supervision, state whether supervision occurs during paid work time and what happens if employment ends. Clarify any proposed repayment clause before agreeing to it, and obtain advice on its legal effect where needed.
The person paying for supervision should not receive unspecified access to everything discussed. Funding and information access should be addressed separately.
A clear agreement can reduce the amount of unstated information a supervisee must infer.
Discuss practical access needs, such as written agendas, explicit feedback, accessible documents, breaks, predictable scheduling, additional processing time or an appropriate sensory environment.
These are options to consider with the individual, not assumptions about every neurodivergent or disabled psychologist. Support should remain compatible with demonstrating the competencies and practising safely.
Agree on what information about an adjustment will be shared, with whom and for what purpose. Avoid collecting a detailed personal history where a functional description of the access need is sufficient.
Revisit arrangements when workload, health or the learning context changes. Putting up with an inaccessible process says nothing about clinical competence.
Plan the exit while the relationship is working.
Specify notice, final meetings, outstanding reports, access to completed records, transfer of relevant information and arrangements for ongoing client safety. Address what happens if the supervisor becomes unavailable or the employer stops funding supervision.
For a 5+1 internship, changing principal supervisors involves Board processes and reporting deadlines. The current guidelines require the change-of-principal-supervisor form, CHPS-76, to be submitted within 28 days of the arrangement ending. They also require the outgoing supervisor to provide details of supervision to date within 14 days, allowing time for comment where the parties disagree. If the internship is discontinued, the provisional psychologist must notify Ahpra in writing of the decision to surrender provisional registration and provide a CHPS-76 within 28 days. Ahpra may not recognise earlier supervised practice without the form. A change of secondary supervisor is different: the principal supervisor approves the change and checks Board-approved status, and the current 5+1 guidelines do not require notification to Ahpra of that change. Check the current forms and submission instructions when a change occurs.
Do not assume that an employment notice period or private contract determines when supervised practice can continue. Confirm the applicable registration and supervision arrangements before continuing client work.
If an answer depends on “we will work that out later”, decide whether it needs to be resolved before starting.
Use the ten questions above as an agenda for your first supervision meeting, document the answers together, and review the agreement when roles or circumstances change. If you still need a supervisor, start with finding a Board-approved 5+1 supervisor.
For the wider internship requirements, read The AHPRA Psychology Internship Requirements Explained. You can also explore the provisional psychology guides or browse PsychVault’s clinician resources. A purchased template is a starting point, not Board approval or a substitute for advice on your arrangement.
This guide provides general educational information. Specific contractual, employment, privacy and regulatory questions require advice appropriate to the setting and jurisdiction. The full member-only APS supervision guideline was not available for this article, so the checklist is not presented as its required contract wording.
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