What counts as peer consultation for registered psychologists?
What counts as peer consultation for registered psychologists?
Peer consultation is one of the most valuable — and most misunderstood — components of CPD for registered psychologists in Australia. It accounts for 10 of your required 30 hours each year, making it a third of your total CPD obligation. And yet it is consistently the component that psychologists under-document, miscategorise, or scramble to complete in the final weeks of the registration year.
This guide explains what peer consultation actually is, what counts and what doesn't, how to document it properly, and how to make it a genuine part of your psychology practice rather than an administrative burden.
What peer consultation actually means
The Psychology Board of Australia's CPD guidelines define peer consultation as "supervision, mentoring and consultation in one-on-one or group format, for the purposes of professional development and support in the practice of psychology. It includes a critically reflective focus on the practitioner's own practice."
Unpacked, this means:
- It is supervision, mentoring, or consultation — purposeful, structured discussion, not incidental conversation
- It can be one-on-one or group — both formats are valid
- It is focused on your psychology practice — your cases, your clinical decisions, your professional development challenges
- It includes critical reflection on your own practice — not just information exchange
- It is documented — the discussion is recorded in a way that can be verified if audited
The phrase "your own practice" is key. The time that counts is the time spent focusing on your own psychology practice. Time spent focusing on someone else's practice doesn't count toward your peer consultation hours — it may count toward your general CPD, but it does not contribute to the 10-hour minimum.
Who can you consult with?
This is the part the guidelines are most frequently misunderstood on. Peer consultation does not have to be with a registered psychologist in Australia. According to the guidelines, peer consultation would usually be with a peer or senior psychologist — but this can include individuals who have expertise in psychology and are not registered in Australia, such as overseas psychologists, retired psychologists, and psychology academics.
Other professional persons may also be acceptable if they advance your CPD goals. The Board recommends the majority of your peer consultation is with other psychologists, but acknowledges that depending on your scope of practice, you may benefit from consultation with others who have identified expertise relevant to your goals — for example, researchers and academics, psychiatrists, or other medical practitioners.
One firm exclusion: consultation with provisional psychologists does not count toward your 10-hour peer consultation requirement.
What types count
The Psychology Board's guidelines recognise peer consultation in several formats. All of these can count, provided the focus is on your own psychology practice.
Individual supervision, mentoring or consultation
One-on-one with a peer, supervisor, manager, senior psychologist, or other professional person whose expertise is relevant to your CPD goals. In person, by phone, or by video — format doesn't matter.
Small group case discussion
A structured group meeting — typically with psychologist peers — where you discuss your own cases and seek advice on aspects of your psychology practice.
Peer support networks
Small group peer support networks where psychologists discuss their psychology practice. These qualify provided there's a reflective, practice-focused purpose — not just a social catch-up.
Learning plan reviews
Reviewing and discussing the outcomes of your annual learning plan with a senior colleague, mentor, or supervisor. This is a category that's often overlooked, but is explicitly listed in the Board's guidelines.
Workplace discussion groups
Workplace discussion groups where you spend time discussing and seeking advice on your own cases or other aspects of your psychology practice. Multidisciplinary team meetings may count depending on whether the focus is genuinely on your own psychology practice — not just administrative case coordination.
The format matters less than the substance. What counts is whether the discussion was purposeful, focused on your psychology practice, and documented.
What does not count
This is where the most common errors occur — and where a wrong assumption about who you can consult with can leave you short.
- One-on-one with a peer, supervisor, manager, senior psychologist, or other relevant professional
- Small group case discussion (focus on your own practice)
- Peer support network meetings
- Reviewing your learning plan with a mentor or supervisor
- Workplace discussion groups about your psychology practice
- Consultation with provisional psychologists
- Time spent as formal supervisor in a Board-approved internship or registrar program
- Time focused on someone else's practice (may count as general CPD)
- Informal corridor conversations
- Personal therapy
Note: the Board recommends the majority of your peer consultation is with psychologists, but consultation with professionals outside psychology — such as psychiatrists, relevant academics, or management consultants — can count if they advance your CPD goals and have expertise relevant to your psychology practice.
Log it now. Not next month.
Ponder's guided peer consultation flow captures who, what, how long, and what you took away — in under five minutes while it's still fresh.
Try Ponder free →How many hours you need
Registered psychologists are required to complete a minimum of 10 hours of peer consultation per registration year (1 December to 30 November).
Those 10 hours count toward your total 30-hour CPD requirement — they are not in addition to it. Your total CPD breaks down as:
- 10 hours peer consultation (minimum)
- 20 hours other CPD activities (minimum)
- Total: 30 hours
There is no maximum. If you complete 15 hours of peer consultation, 10 count toward the mandatory component and the remaining 5 count toward your general CPD hours.
How to document it properly
"Caught up with colleague to discuss cases — 1 hour" is not sufficient. A proper peer consultation record includes:
- Who: Name and their role or credentials (e.g. peer psychologist, retired psychologist, psychology academic, or other professional with relevant expertise)
- When: Date of the session
- Duration: Total time spent (time focusing on your own practice only)
- What was discussed: A meaningful description of the practice matter — "risk management approach for a client presenting with complex trauma" is meaningful; "case discussion" is not
- What you took away: Key learnings, reflections, or action points from the consultation
- Link to learning goals: Where possible, connect to your annual learning plan
Making it work across practice settings
Peer consultation looks different depending on where and how you work.
Private practice
If you work independently, peer consultation requires deliberate arrangement. Many private practitioners join peer consultation groups that meet monthly or fortnightly. Ten hours across a year is less than one hour per month — manageable, but it requires it to be in the calendar, not left to chance.
Multi-disciplinary teams
If you work in a hospital, community mental health, or other team setting, structured peer consultation may already be part of your regular work. Make sure it's documented and focused on your own psychology practice — not just administrative case coordination.
NDIS and community settings
High-volume NDIS work often makes peer consultation harder to prioritise. Treat it as a non-negotiable appointment — the psychologists who manage it best schedule it at the start of the year and don't move it.
Organisational and forensic psychology
The requirement applies regardless of practice area. For psychologists in non-clinical settings, peer consultation may need to be sought outside the workplace — but the 10-hour bar doesn't change.
The documentation problem — and the fix
The most common pattern: a psychologist has their peer consultation conversations throughout the year, finds them genuinely useful, then logs them from memory weeks later. The entries end up vague because the detail has faded.
"Case discussion with Sarah — 45 mins" logged six weeks after the fact is not a strong audit record. Compare that to: "Discussion with Dr. Sarah Chen (registered psychologist) regarding treatment planning for an adolescent client presenting with school refusal and suspected PDA profile — 45 minutes. Key learning: reconsidered my formulation approach following Sarah's challenge of my initial autism-first framing. Plan to review the PDA literature and adjust my assessment protocol." — logged the same day.
Log peer consultation the same day — ideally within the hour. Five minutes in real time prevents 30 minutes of frustrating reconstruction when you're audited.
Ponder's peer consultation logging is built around exactly this: a guided four-step flow that captures who, what, how long, and what you took away — with reflection prompts that make documentation feel purposeful rather than administrative. Your peer consultation hours count automatically toward your compliance total, and you can see at any point where you stand against the 10-hour minimum. Try it free.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute regulatory or legal advice. Peer consultation requirements may be subject to change. Always refer to the Psychology Board of Australia's CPD guidelines for current requirements.