PsyBA Code of Conduct: what changed on 1 December 2025, and what your practice needs to show

If you’ve scrolled past the PsyBA Code of Conduct update on your AHPRA dashboard, you’re not alone. It reads a lot like the APS Code of Ethics you’ve been working under for years, and much of it is continuous with what you were already doing. The shift that actually matters: the PsyBA Code is a regulatory instrument administered under the National Law, which means AHPRA can act on non-compliance.

The area we think is easiest to miss isn’t boundaries or record-keeping. It’s the financial disclosure obligations: fees, rebates, and cancellation terms. The Code expects clients to be informed about these before treatment begins, and expects you to be able to show, in writing, that you did.

What the Code wants you to disclose

Before treatment begins, clients have to be informed about:

• Fees and any expected out-of-pocket costs.
• Rebates and third-party funding (Medicare, NDIS, DVA, WorkCover, private health).
• Cancellation and no-show fees.
• Any commercial arrangements that could look like they’re influencing clinical decisions.

The intent is straightforward. Clients shouldn’t be surprised by a fee. The compliance job is straightforward too, just annoyingly concrete: you need to show, in writing, that the client was told.

What counts as “informed”

If AHPRA or a complaint process ever asks how your client was informed, you want something you can point to with a date on it. Three things usually do the job:

1. A practice information sheet or intake pack that lists fees, rebate arrangements, and the cancellation policy, provided at or before the first session, signed or acknowledged.
2. A public page on your website showing fees and the cancellation policy. The kind a client can go back and check if they’ve forgotten.
3. For NDIS participants, the Service Agreement, which has to contain the cancellation terms anyway if you want short-notice claims to be payable.

One of these is enough. Two is better. The goal is a dated artefact you can produce on demand.

The gap we see most often

Most practices do have a cancellation policy somewhere. The question is whether a client has actually seen it. The policy from the old website redesign. The intake pack that was “going live next quarter” 18 months ago. The one the practice manager carries around in their head.

Under the old APS Code this was sloppy. Under the PsyBA Code it’s a disclosure failure.

The fix is boring. One policy, same wording, in three places: your intake pack, your public website, and the Service Agreement for NDIS clients. Enforced the same way every time. If you don’t have one yet, the cancellation policy generator walks you through it. Pick a tone that fits your practice (strict, balanced, trauma-informed, warm) and copy the output into your intake pack.

A reasonable bar to clear

You don’t need a legal team. A practical bar for most practices: you can point to a dated cancellation and fees policy, and a dated intake pack that a client signed or acknowledged. If you have both, the paper trail speaks for itself. For how a specific Notification or complaint gets handled, refer to the current AHPRA guidance on managing notifications; the process and thresholds are set by AHPRA, not by us.

The other bits, briefly

Other sections of the Code cover things like boundaries, supervision, record-keeping, and advertising. Most of these read alongside existing AHPRA guidelines rather than replacing them. The one worth a quick self-check while you’re already reviewing your paperwork is advertising: specifically whether anything on your website could be read as a testimonial about a regulated health service, which sits under AHPRA’s advertising rules. Refer to the current AHPRA advertising guidelines for the authoritative test.

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General information for Australian psychology practices, not legal, regulatory, or professional advice. This post summarises public-facing expectations at the time of writing and may not reflect subsequent updates. Always refer to the current Psychology Board of Australia Code of Conduct and AHPRA guidance for authoritative detail, and consult your professional association (APS or AAPi), supervisor, or indemnity provider for advice on your specific circumstances. Galad Health does not accept liability for decisions made on the basis of this article.