Inherent requirements – Bachelor of Psychology or Psychological Studies (Honours)

his relates to the understanding and ability to comply with Australian and Victorian law and professional accreditation regulations. Examples include:

• Child protection and safety legislation (including the ability to pass a Working with Children Check) 
• Criminal History / Police Checks
• Occupational health and safety
• Anti-discrimination legislation

Rationale

Knowledge, understanding, and compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements are necessary in order to reduce the risk of harm to self and others in clinical and related settings; compliance with these professional regulations and the Australian Law ensures students are both responsible and accountable for their practice.

Examples

• Complying with legal requirements
• Complying with regulatory requirements for eventual provisional registration with the Australian Health Professional Registration Authority (AHPRA)
• Complying with Anti-discrimination legislation

This relates to the student's ability to understand and adhere to standards, codes, guidelines and policies that facilitates safe, competent interactions and relationships for students and the people they engage with. Examples include:

• Complying with academic and non-academic conduct codes and policies, including academic integrity policies
• Understanding and complying with professional standards, codes of practice, and guidelines

Rationale

Compliance with ethical standards and codes of behaviour that facilitates safe, competent interactions and relationships for students and the people they engage with in the many environments of practice is required for the physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual well-being of all.

Examples

• Appropriately acknowledging sources in the preparation of assessment tasks.
• Displaying sensitivity to others’ experiences and opinions in discussions as part of course work.
• Understanding and practising appropriate professional boundaries.
• Demonstrating appropriate behaviour with confidential information.
• Complying with codes and guidelines of ethical conduct with respect to research.
• Responding appropriately and respectfully to staff and students including verbal and non-verbal communication

Where relevant, this relates to considerations of current scope of practice, workplace health and safety, and any other matter related to safety. Examples include:

• Ability to understand and comply with all relevant workplace health and safety policies and practices 
• Ability to identify and respond to alarm systems
• Ability to understand and demonstrate compliance with current scope of practice
• Ability to manage one's own health in a manner that promotes the ability to fulfil the requirements of study, placements, and the role/s for which the study typically equips the graduate

Rationale

Compliance with current scope of practice, workplace health and safety, infection control considerations and effective and timely response to alarm systems are required to provide safe environments for students, staff and others.

Examples

• Understanding that psychology is a regulated profession that can only be carried out by registered practitioners.
• Ability to understand and demonstrate compliance with current scope of practice.

This relates to the student's capacity for knowledge acquisition, utilisation and retention. It also includes metacognitive capacity such as awareness of one's own thinking, and the ability to reflect, evaluate, adapt and implement new cognitive strategies. Examples include:

• Focus, memory, attention to detail, theoretical deliberation, and practical functioning sufficient to meet the course objectives
• Ability to reflect and take personal responsibility 
• Ability to apply knowledge in practical and theoretical assessment settings

Cognition - knowledge & cognitive

Knowledge acquisition, utilisation and retention spanning and drawing together all coursework subjects. Cognitive skills for focus, memory, attention to detail, theoretical deliberation, and practical functioning.

Rationale

Understanding and retention of coursework information and the effective processing of this information is required for the academic completion of the course.

Examples

• Ability to conceptualise and use appropriate knowledge in response to assessment items.
• Ability to select, evaluate, and apply knowledge, for example to formulate and test hypotheses, prepare a critical literature review and develop intervention plans
• Understanding, applying, and evaluating psychological knowledge
• Locating and integrating information from a range of sources

Cognition - metacognition

Awareness of own thinking, and skills to reflect, evaluate, adapt and implement new cognitive strategies for improved learning.

Rationale

The ability to understand and apply psychological principles to a wide range of situations and contexts is a key graduate attribute for psychology courses, and the capacity for reflection on the self and others is an important component of this process. Understanding and ongoing learning about oneself as an instrument in client care is required for safe and effective delivery of practice.

Examples

• Identifying how one's ability to relate to others may impede or enhance work with peers and academic teachers in classroom practice settings.
• Accurately assessing one’s own performance in assessments and integrating feedback effectively into subsequent tasks.
• The capacity to reflect on personal experiences and professional performance and learn from them 
• Insightful awareness of one’s feelings, motives, and attitudes based on psychological principles 
• The capacity for independent learning in a changing scientific and professional context.

This includes both writing and reading, and is also linked to English language proficiency (literacy requirements are always established in terms of English). NB: For VE, literacy requirements are based on the Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF). Examples include:

• Capacity to comprehend, summarise and reference a range of literature in accordance with appropriate academic conventions in written assignments
• Producing clear, accurate documentation relating to practical tasks

Rationale

Students need to demonstrate the ability to comprehend written information in English presented in a variety of styles, and the capacity to understand and implement academic conventions to construct written text in a scholarly manner.

Examples

• Paraphrasing, summarising and referencing in accordance with appropriate academic conventions (e.g., not plagiarising).
• Reading and synthesising written instructions to understand and respond to assessment requirements.

This includes any form of numeracy required to complete the course successfully. For many courses, this will be basic functional numeracy. NB: For VE, numeracy requirements are based on the Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF).  Examples include:

• Competent reasoning and reliable accuracy with numerical concepts
• Ability to perform basic mathematical tasks

Rationale

Competent reasoning and reliable accuracy with numerical concepts are essential for safe and effective care/practice.

Examples

• Performing calculations and statistical analysis using statistical software packages and interpreting the output
• Scoring psychological measurements

This includes verbal, non-verbal and written communication. Examples include:

• Verbal communication in English to a standard that allows fluid, clear, and comprehensible two-way discussions
• Ability to recognise, interpret and respond to non-verbal cues, to communicate with congruent and respectful non-verbal behaviour, and to be sensitive to individual and/or cultural variations in non-verbal communication
• Ability to produce English text to the expected standard (NB: This is a skill that may be developed throughout a course, and should be identified as such in any inherent requirements statement)

Communication - verbal

Verbal communication in English to a standard that allows fluid, clear, and comprehensible two-way discussions, tailored to the local English-speaking audiences.

Rationale

Effective verbal communication, in English, with clients and University and clinical staff is required for effective learning and to provide safe and effective delivery of care/practice.

Examples

• Delivering oral presentations as part of assessments.
• Participating in classes, team and groupwork, and classroom discussions.
• The capacity to develop coherent verbal communication in response to assessments; 
• Communicate in ways that show sensitivity to individual and cultural differences; 
• Understand and respond to verbal communication accurately, appropriately and in a timely manner; 
• Ability to understand and provide clear instructions in a given context; and to provide timely, clear feedback and reporting.

Communication - non-verbal

Non-verbal communication skills that enable respectful communication with others.

Rationale

The ability to recognise, interpret and respond to non-verbal cues, to communicate with congruent and respectful non-verbal behaviour, and to be sensitive to individual and/or cultural variations in non-verbal communication is essential for safe and effective care.

Examples

• Recognising and responding to non-verbal cues while conducting an interview
• Recognising and responding appropriately to non-verbal cues in classroom situations.
• Demonstrating appropriate non-verbal cues in interactions with others

Communication - written

Ability to produce English text to a standard that provides clear and professional-level communication, with language usage and style tailored to the targeted recipients.

Rationale

Effective communication in English text is required to demonstrate applied skills in academic writing conventions and in sustained and organised academic argument and provide safe and effective delivery of care/practice.

Examples

• Tailoring written communication style to a variety of different formats and data, such as online discussion forums and scientific reports.
• The capacity to develop coherent written communication in response to assessments.

This includes a person's ability to sustain their performance in a given activity or series of activities over time. Care must be taken to not prescribe sustained performance in a way that allows no room for temporary changes to performance levels due to illness or other factors. Examples include:

Ability to sustain a working posture, associated manual tasks, cognitive engagement, performance level and emotional control for the full duration of any task required as part of the course or any placement

Rationale

Coursework requirements include the ability to sustain performance in the completion of required tasks and assessments.

Examples

• Completion of tests under appropriate conditions which may include reasonable adjustments for accessibility reasons.
• Students need to demonstrate the capacity to participate and engage in the learning and teaching environment, to meet the learning outcomes of the course

This includes the personal flexibility and resilience required to adapt behaviour to different situations, even when they are stressful or difficult. NB: Care must be taken to allow room in the inherent requirements for the individual to demonstrate behavioural adaptability through withdrawing from activities for a time to undertake medical interventions and self-care measures. Examples include:

• Ability to adjust ways of working to work within teams of varied personal and professional backgrounds 
• Being receptive and responding appropriately to constructive feedback
• Maintaining respectful communication practices in times of increased stressors or workloads
• Adjusting to changing circumstances in a way that allows self-care

Rationale

Behavioural adaptation is required to manage personal emotional responses as an individual and within teams in changing and unpredictable environments, including emergency situations and times of human distress. Students will also be required to adapt their behaviour appropriately during times of additional stressors in their own lives, whether this adaptation involves ways of continuing to engage with their role or withdrawing for self-care for a period.

Examples

• Appropriately regulating one’s emotional state and reactions.
• Ability to be self-reliant, organised, and an effective time manager.
• Demonstrating respectful behaviour and being receptive and responding appropriately to constructive feedback.