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‘Act now’: Psychology workforce set to fall dangerously short 

14 April 2026  

Peak body for all psychologists, the Australian Association of Psychologists (AAPi), says the psychology workforce outlook is grim, with a new study forecasting the workforce in health settings will fall almost 30% short of meeting anticipated demand by 2038. 

AAPi Executive Director, Tegan Carrison, said the data showed Australia could have less than half the psychological workforce needed to meet the country’s real mental health needs. 

The Psychology Supply and Demand Study, released today by the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, shows demand for psychological care will grow faster than the workforce. 

Based on baseline demand in health settings, there is currently a shortfall of 865 psychologists. By 2038, it is estimated that this number will be more than 7000, or 28% fewer than the system needs to meet the expected baseline health demand. 

More concerningly, the study mapped unmet demand in health settings.  When considering unmet demand, the shortage for psychologists in health settings becomes significantly larger, rising from 10,269.9 FTE psychologists in 2025 to 24,115.5 FTE by 2038.

“Projections indicate a 57.3% undersupply of psychologists in 2025, widening to an alarming 96.6% by 2038.

“We need the government to commit to working with the sector to build and support an appropriately sized psychology workforce,” Ms Carrison said. 

“Psychologists are the experts in mental health. We must ensure the profession is supported, so our communities in turn can also be supported.” 

Ms Carrison said the study showed a maldistribution of psychologists between rural and remote areas compared with metropolitan areas. In 2023, the number of full-time psychologists per 100,000 population in metropolitan areas was 138.9, compared to 60 in medium rural towns and only 32.6 in small rural towns. 

The study concluded that: 

  • While the number of new psychologists entering the workforce is gradually increasing, this growth is not sufficient to keep pace with the rising demand for psychology services, especially when considering unmet demand. 
  • With the psychology workforce ageing, there is an opportunity to strengthen the psychology pipeline through targeted reforms to training pathways. Enhancing access to supervision and internship opportunities could support more students in completing their training and entering the profession.
  • To ensure equitable access to high-quality mental health care for all Australians, there is an urgent need to expand the psychology workforce. 

“The findings speak for themselves,” Ms Carrison said. 

“We need to ensure the pathway to psychology registration is faster, smoother and fairer. We need to support our current psychologists and our future students currently studying or completing their internships and registrar programs.

“And we need to address projected shortages now, so Australians can be assured of psychological support into the future.” 

In AAPi’s 206-27 pre-budget submission, AAPi recommended the following: 

  • Increase the Medicare rebate for the clients of ALL psychologists
  • Increase Medicare Better Access from 10 to 20 sessions per year for people with higher psychological support needs, ensuring care is based on clinical need rather than capacity to pay
  • Expand Medicare eligibility to provisional psychologists, immediately increasing workforce capacity, reducing waitlists, and strengthening early-career training pathways
  • Introduce rural and regional psychology workforce incentives, including expansion of the Workforce Incentive Program, to address longstanding maldistribution
  • Increase Commonwealth Supported Places (CSPs) for psychology training and align CSP costs across psychology pathways to remove inequitable financial barriers
  • Expand eligibility for the Commonwealth Prac Payment to address placement poverty and support students to complete required training
  • Fund structured graduate and placement programs across all Commonwealth-funded mental health services, including Medicare-funded services, headspace, youth and perinatal programs
  • Commit funding to the implementation of psychology training pathway reforms, with appropriate transition supports for students and providers.

Full report: Psychology Supply and Demand Compendium Report

ENDS 

Download this as a PDF. 

About AAPi 

AAPi is a not-for-profit peak body for psychologists that aims to preserve the rich diversity of psychological practice in Australia. Formed in 2010 by a group of passionate grassroots psychologists, AAPi’s primary goal is to address inequality in the profession and represent all psychologists and their clients equally to government and funding bodies. Its primary mission is to lobby for equitable access for the Australian public to professional psychological services such as Medicare Better Access Scheme and the National Disability Insurance Scheme.