Continuing Professional Development (CPD) refers to the process through which professionals maintain and enhance their knowledge, skills, and abilities throughout their careers. In Australia, CPD standards for counsellors are set by peak industry associations such as the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) and the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA). To maintain member registration with either ACA or PACFA, counsellors are required to undertake a minimum number of professional development hours per year, and demonstrate this through participation records such as certificates, transcripts, etc.
While there are myriad Associations for counsellors, this article will focus on the CPD requirements for ACA and PACFA, which membership base encompasses the majority of practicing counsellors in Australia.
Note on terminology: While the term Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is broadly used in the mental health industry, the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) utilises the term Ongoing Professional Development (OPD). Throughout this article we will use both terms interchangeably; where CPD is mentioned, it should also refer to OPD.
Both ACA and PACFA recognise as Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities that relate to a counsellor’s scope of practice and CPD goals. CPD may include both structured and unstructured learning activities which directly contribute to a counsellor’s competence to practice:
All practicing members of the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) are required to accrue 25 Ongoing Professional Development (OPD) points per membership year. The Australian Counselling Association (ACA) uses a points system to allocate Ongoing Professional Development (OPD) points based on the duration of OPD activities and its ACA approval status (ACA approved OPD events are activities that have been reviewed and approved by the ACA through a formal application process completed by training providers).
A detailed table outlining how OPD points are allocated and the conditions specific to each type of OPD activity can be found on page 2 of the ACA OPD Policy. Following is a summary of activities that can accrue OPD points with the ACA:
ACA members must accrue 25 annual OPD points through attending a minimum of two different and separate activities, unless completing a course. For more details, read the ACA OPD Policy.
The Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Standard applies to all PACFA registered counsellors, psychotherapists and Indigenous Healing Practitioners. PACFA members are required to accrue a minimum of 20 CPD hours per membership year. Unlike the ACA, PACFA does not use a points system; each hour of learning translates directly to 1 CPD hour (the same CPD hour conversion method applies to psychologists, social workers, community workers, and other mental health professionals).
Activities that accrue CPD hours for PACFA members are divided into two categories:
As outlined in the PACFA website, Category A CPD requires active participation in activities such as attendance in in-person courses, workshops, seminars, and conferences, and participation in online facilitated learning. For online facilitated learning, the presence and contribution of an online facilitator is required, providing interaction between the facilitator and the participants, either during the event, or after via forums or email. This involves interactive learning where participants carry out a number of learning activities, rather than passively listening to a lecture or presentation. Examples of online facilitated learning can be live webinars, conferences or workshops that include facilitated discussions or forums, and may also include an assessment.
Category B CPD are considered more “passive learning” and include activities such as watching a video recording and reading articles or books. This category can also include supervision hours (completed in excess of the annual requirements), teaching or formal presentations, and peer learning groups without a formal facilitator.
For more detail on PACFA’s CPD Standards and requirements, including supervision requirements and additional requirements for accredited supervisors and mental health practitioners, visit this page.
