Clinical doctoral programs

Item

Requirement

A. Three Referee Reports

You must arrange for three confidential referee forms to be completed:

• two academic referees (one of whom should be your research supervisor) and
• one relevant professional referee (ie. a person such as an employer who has known you in a context other than the academic context).

It is essential that all applicants have a referee report from their current or past 4th year supervisor or coordinator (or Masters if applicable).

Please visit the Psychology Reference Portal to create an account and nominate your referees. The portal will send a link to your nominated referees to complete the confidential referee report.

B. Personal Statement

We ask that you prepare a written statement that outlines your vision for your career as a clinical psychologist or clinical neuropsychologist. Most of our previously successful applicants had a strong academic record and some practical experience or volunteer work experience related to clinical practice. This makes the personal statement a key factor in discriminating among a large group of strong applicants.

Your personal statement (about 700 words) should briefly discuss:

1. your prior experience and training, and how they contribute to your being a strong candidate for the program;
2. your research interests and how they align with one or more members of our staff;
3. your goals for postgraduate study;
4. your career goals, including clinical research, clinical practice, teaching, training, and/or other activities.

If you completed a four-year bachelor degree, or equivalent, more than three years ago, show how you have maintained up-to-date knowledge and skills in the area of Psychology.

C. Nominating a supervisor

If you have identified supervisor(s) and project(s), you can list them or you can leave this field empty (N/A).

A sample of particular projects or areas of research that are available for 2026 enrolment are listed below

• PhD (Clinical Psychology)   (PDF, 0.45 MB)
• PhD (Clinical Neuropsychology) (PDF, 0.36 MB)

You can also visit Supervisor Connect to see the examples of projects currently advertised in the school.

D. International Applicants ONLY

D1: Assessment of your psychology qualifications

Applicants who completed their undergraduate and/or postgraduate psychology degree overseas must undergo an assessment of the equivalence of their qualifications by the Australian Psychological Society (APS): see http://www.psychology.org.au/membership/qualifications. Please note assessments can take up to 8 weeks.A fee will be charged for APS assessment, please refer to the website for current assessment fee.

Please attach the APS letter of assessment in the supporting information section of the application.

If you have not completed your overseas degree at the time of submitting your application, please add a note to your application saying that the APS assessment of your qualifications is pending completion of your degree.

D2: Letter from your University

If available, please include a letter from your University stating your overall grade and ranking within the final year of your undergraduate and/or postgraduate psychology program. Please attach this letter with your academic transcript.