In the Master of Professional Psychology, students complete 300 - 400 hours of placement across the year. There are multiple options to enable students to achieve these hours. These options include:

• approximately 100 hours of supervised professional experience activities undertaken during class and independent learning time
• Participation in the EPIC Outreach Program – a range of short experiences throughout the year, such as training, seminars, assessments and independent learning. The face-to-face activities are all organised within metropolitan Melbourne with the Monash Clayton campus as a base. Some opportunities are available online.
• Closer to the second semester, students may also have the opportunity to undertake extended external placements, for a maximum of 300 hours. The timing of these will largely depend on the host and student availability, so each placement schedule will be unique. Students can either:
  • apply for a limited number of external placements that have been organised by the Faculty, largely within metropolitan Melbourne, OR
  • submit independently organised external placements for approval. These can be organised within the students’ local area and would need to meet the Faculty approval processes and ideally provide a Board Approved Supervisor. Mixed-mode students are encouraged to explore this option.

Direct client contact

Although there is no minimum requirement for direct client contact in this course, all students are encouraged to experience client work where suitable.

The Master of Educational and Developmental Psychology (MEDP) is a two-year degree, referred to as 5th and 6th Year.

MEDP - 5th Year

In 5th year, students undertake much of their studies alongside students in the MPP, completing 200 hours of supervised professional experience activities through the EPC Outreach program.

These professional experience activities are undertaken during scheduled classes, and also during independent learning time. As part of this, students will complete 30 to 50 hours of direct client contact activities through short experiences throughout the year (typically between April and November). These experiences will be advertised on Moodle, with some activities being compulsory. Optional activities will require an expression of interest and will be allocated by the Professional Experience Team.

For part-time students, direct client contact activities with the EPC Outreach program will occur in the second year of study.

As the MEDP is an on-campus course, placement activities are organised with the Monash Clayton campus as a central base. Students may be expected to travel to areas in the South-East of Melbourne to access some opportunities.

MEDP - 6th Year

In 6th year, MEDP students undertake approximately 800 hours of supervised clinical placements in settings that enable the development of Educational and Developmental competencies.

These placements are organised and allocated by the Psychology Placements Team and occur between late January and December.

Mid-way through 5th Year, students attend an information session to learn more about the placement opportunities available in the 6th Year, and to submit their preferences. Allocations are then made based on:

• distance from the student’s home (within 90 minutes),
• suitability of the setting in relation to the competence and experience of the student, and
• student's and setting's preferences.

Placements are released towards the end of Semester 2 of the 5th Year. Students are then able to organise interviews with their prospective Placement Hosts to secure their place.

As the MEDP is an on-campus course, placement partnerships are generally organised within Greater Melbourne, with most opportunities in Metropolitan Melbourne. In exceptional circumstances, students may seek approval for placements outside of our existing placement partnerships.

The MEDPA is available to students who are already Registered Psychologists and wish to seek eligibility to undertake a registrar program for endorsement in Educational and Developmental Psychology.

Students in this course undertake 750 hours of supervised clinical placements, including a minimum of 300 direct client contact activities.

Both part-time and full-time students have 12 months to complete these hours and are required to find their own placements and Board-Approved Supervisors. Placements can be undertaken through a student’s workplace, and/or a combination of settings that enable the development of Educational and Developmental competencies.

Registration (Provisional or General) with the Psychology Board of Australia (PsyBA) is a mandatory requirement of the Master of Psychology courses.

Proof of this registration will be required each year and before placements can commence - apply in January each year.

• Go to the PsyBA Provisional Registration website
• Select the Accredited professional degree option

There are three simple steps to applying for provisional registration online:

1. Fill out an online application for provisional registration.
2. Upload supporting documents as part of the online application.
3. Wait to be contacted by AHPRA.

The Faculty confirms student enrolments with AHPRA in early February. You do not need to contact us to have your enrolment confirmed, this is handled by the Education Services team.

Alternatively, you can apply for provisional registration using the APRO-76 form and lodge it with your local AHPRA office. Students can download a copy of their current enrolment in the course from WES to accompany this hard copy application.

A clearly readable PDF copy of your Registration Certificate must be uploaded to your InPlace profile by the end of week 4 of your first semester of study. It is important that we receive this piece of documentation before we begin allocating your placement. (See how to upload documents into InPlace (pdf)).

Prior to receiving your certificate, you can download a PDF from the AHPRA site by setting up an online account.

Before your placement may commence, all Master of Psychology students must obtain a Working with Children Check (WWCC) clearance from the state of Victoria, or equivalent clearance from their state of residence.

A clearly readable copy of your WWCC card must be uploaded to your InPlace profile before you can commence your placement activities.

Please follow the application process relevant to your place of residence:

• How to apply for WWCC in Victoria
• A list of interstate equivalent agencies (at end of the page)