Continuing Professional Development Requirements

CPD activities must be directly relevant to clinical practice in counselling and psychotherapy and/or the research evidence base for counselling and psychotherapy.

Annual CPD requirement - minimum 20 hours

There are 2 categories from which the 20 hours may be accrued:

  • Category A (mandatory): Minimum 10 hours per year
  • Category B (optional): Maximum 10 hours per year

The 20 hours may be accrued entirely from Category A if desired.

Category A

Active participation in activities such as:

  • Attendance at in-person courses, workshops, seminars, conferences
  • Participation in online facilitated learning (e.g., Zoom webinars, forums, Q&A with facilitators)

Category B

Passive learning activities such as:

  • Watching recorded webinars
  • Reading journal articles or books
  • Additional supervision hours beyond minimum
  • Teaching, presenting or peer learning groups

A Reflective Review Template is required for each Category B activity. It should synthesize the knowledge and skills gained and how the learning applies to professional practice.

For more details, read the PACFA CPD Standards.

Annual Supervision Requirements

Certified Practising and Registered Clinical members must complete:

  • 10 hours of formal supervision annually
  • 15 hours if more than 400 client hours are accrued

Accepted formats: individual or small group (Group being defined as being equal to or less than six supervisees) or peer if eligible.

PACFA have made it easier for registrants to log their accrual of supervision hours, please see the PACFA Supervision and Client Contact Form for more details. 

Your Supervisor

Your supervisor does not have to be a PACFA registrant but ideally is so. If you are a Certified Practising registrant, you are, however, encouraged to use a PACFA Registered Clinical registrant as your supervisor. Your supervisor of choice must nonetheless meet the criteria outlined below.

A supervisor:

  • Has supervision competencies which are equivalent to the requirements of the PACFA Supervision Training Standards, and
  • Has a minimum of five years practice experience working with clients, and
  • Is a PACFA clinical registrant with continuous membership of PACFA for a minimum of 5 years, or
  • Is a practitioner registered with a relevant professional body (e.g., AAFT, AASW, ACA Level 4, APS or AAPi) with current continuous membership for a minimum of 5 years, or
  • Is a PACFA clinical registrant who has transferred their membership to PACFA and who has a combined total of a minimum of 5 years continuous membership

Peer Supervision

Members eligible for peer supervision may claim a maximum of 50% of their required hours. Eligibility requires being a Clinical Member with PACFA for at least 5 continuous years.

Where a Registrant has not been listed as a Clinical Registrant with PACFA for 5 years prior to the commencement of peer supervision, evidence of prior eligibility for clinical registration (i.e. evidence that the Registrant had completed 750 post-qualifying client contact hours linked to 75 hours of post-qualifying supervision hours) AND evidence of the 5 years supervised practice since becoming eligible for clinical registration is to be provided in order to be eligible to claim Peer Supervision.

Peer supervision is a formal process where therapists contract to provide collegial critiquing and enhancement of each other’s clinical client work. Colleagues or peers work together for mutual benefit, rotating the roles of supervisor and supervisee. Peer supervision can be undertaken as a dyad or within a small group of no more than 6 members.

Participants in a peer supervision arrangement may include practitioners from a cognate field with a level of experience consistent with that outlined above for PACFA registrants.

Exemption Table

Joined PACFA mid-way through the membership year

If you became a PACFA Registrant partway through the financial year, a pro-rata exemption for your supervision and CPD will be automatically applied to your renewal form.

The table below summarises the exemption hours:

Month joined CPD exemption (hours) Supervision exemption (hours)
August 2 1
September 3 2
October 5 3
November 7 3
December 8 4
January 10 5
February 12 6
March 13 7
April 15 8
May 17 8

Requirements for Certified Supervisors 

There are some variations to the registration renewal requirements for Certified Supervisors.

The table below summarises the requirements:

Registration Category Professional Development Supervision
Certified Practising or Registered Clinical 20 hours (min. 10 Category A) 10 or 15 hours
Certified Supervisor 20 hours (min. 10 Category A, 5 in supervision) 15 hours (5 in supervision recommended)