Flinders University will work with service providers to deliver 100 psychology internships across SA and NT, funded by federal government grants aimed at increasing access to psychologists and strengthening the psychology workforce.
The grant from the Department of Health and Aged Care will enable Flinders to support service providers by offsetting their costs when they facilitate internships, as well as support improved quality of supervision.
Employers of provisional psychologists undertaking their internship year following the completion of their Masters of Professional Psychology (MPP) degree program will be eligible to apply for $30,000 for each internship in order to support onboarding, supervision and training.
Vice-President and Executive Dean, College of Education, Psychology & Social Work, Professor Deborah West says providing internships is vital to alleviating the national shortage of psychologists, and Flinders is committed to growing and diversifying the workforce, particularly in regional and remote communities.
The grants prioritise areas of greatest need, with internships and supervisor training to be offered to people in First Nations communities, culturally and linguistically diverse communities and people living in regional, rural and remote areas in SA and NT.
"The interns add to workforce capacity immediately but also require additional supervision, training and infrastructure support and as such can be a significant cost to an employer. Where the internship is rural and remote, this can also mean additional costs such as relocation expenses. An additional $5,000 is available to assist in these relocation costs.
"This funding is good news for students who want to be in practice, working as psychologists as quickly as possible and is a huge benefit for people in the community who are seeking psychological support," she said.
The internships will also support providers through the development of internship hubs to help strengthen psychology supervisors' skills.
The funding is available to all service providers who employ a MPP trained intern, including private practices, government and not-for-profit organisations.
Flinders is the only University in SA and NT which offers the MPP program and is very proud of its results thus far. The program is currently the quickest pathway to practice as a provisional psychologist, with interns entering the workforce after one-year of master's course work following their undergraduate studies.
Madeline Rac completed the Flinders program in 2022, commenced internship with Sonder in 2023 and is now employed and registered as a psychologist as a result.
"The pathway allowed me to have financial security by earning a salary during my internship year, which also helped with being able to take part in further professional development."
"I would recommend the pathway as the MPP provides an excellent foundation prior to working as a provisional psychologist in the internship. My internship year allowed me to develop my therapeutic and assessment skills while having access to regular supervision. This was a significant amount of supervision and support that has increased my confidence entering the profession."
Clinical Psychologist and supervisor, Laura Harley, says the organisation has demonstrated exceptional investment in the Psychology workforce by creating and supporting psychology interns.
"Thanks to Sonder's investment in this space, we have been able to offer high quality internal supervision for many provisional psychologists. The return on investment is the development of highly skilled, highly trained psychologists within the organisation, where we have been able to shape and develop their skills and competencies to a very high standard during the intern year."
"The high standard of training in Psychology via the Master of Professional Psychology at Flinders ensures that an intern is already a highly competent clinician upon entry into the internship year. They come with 5 years of university-level training and with appropriate supervision and support, are equipped to deliver a high standard of evidence based psychological therapy and mental health care to consumers.
"The standard of psychological therapy demonstrated by Madeline, for example, is evidenced by the extensive and exceptional feedback (both quantitative and qualitative) that she has received from her clients over the course of the internship year."
