Community of Practice Conference 2025
A free one-day virtual conference exploring education and training for contemporary practice.
Education and Training for Contemporary Practice
The APAC Community of Practice Conference brings the sector together to confront today’s challenges, share what’s working and imagine new ways forward.
Join leading voices from across psychology education, practice and regulation in this free one-day virtual conference on Wednesday 5 November from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. AEDT.
Conference Overview
What does it take to prepare tomorrow’s psychologists?
This year’s theme, Education and Training for Contemporary Practice, will explore how psychology education can adapt to meet today’s challenges and prepare graduates for the future. Together, we will confront today’s challenges, share what’s working and imagine new ways forward. Join us for a day that will:
- Bring together sector leaders and high-profile voices to share insights on the future of psychology education and training.
- Deliver engaging panel discussions on the challenges and opportunities shaping contemporary training.
- Offer keynote perspectives and presentations designed to inform, provoke and inspire action across the sector.
- Create space for shared learning and dialogue between educators, practitioners, regulators and students.
To foster collaboration and practical change as we reflect on psychology education and training for contemporary practice, this year’s program is structured around three key themes that shape the conversation:
- Where Are We Now?
- What’s Emerging?
- Challenges, Barriers and Enablers.
Scroll down to explore each theme in more detail. A detailed agenda, including sessions, times and speakers, will be published in the lead up to the event.
Conference Themes
Join APAC in exploring where psychology education and training stand today. Together, we’ll explore what good practice looks like in accreditation, pull back the curtain on the Alignment Accreditation Standards Review and spotlight signature sector partnerships that advance cultural safety.
Take a look ahead! With change on the horizon, these sessions aim to showcase practical requirements, spotlight innovation and surface bold ideas from across the psychology sector with a focus on real world implementation. Hear from national voices on how we can build future-ready programs of study.
What’s getting in the way and how do we fix it? Our final theme provides the forum to reflect on contemporary practice, unpick placement models and explore issues around graduate-work readiness and outcomes.
Agenda
A detailed agenda will be published in the lead-up to the event. Our 2025 speaker line-up, consisting of key partners, sector leaders and global voices, will be updated below.
Meet Our Speakers
John is an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at the School of Psychological Science at the University of Western Australia and at the School of Psychology at the University of Adelaide. Previously, he has been the Chair of APAC, Chair of HODSPA and Head of the School of Psychology at the University of Adelaide.
John is an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at the School of Psychological Science at the University of Western Australia and at the School of Psychology at the University of Adelaide. Previously, he has been the Chair of APAC, Chair of HODSPA and Head of the School of Psychology at the University of Adelaide.
He is a Fellow of the Psychonomic Society and a member of the Association for Psychological Science, the International Association of Applied Psychology, the Cognitive Science Society, Society for Mathematical Psychology and the Australasian Mathematical Psychology Society.
John obtained his PhD in 1984 from the University of Western Australia. He has since worked at the University of Western Australia, the University of Queensland, the University of Adelaide, Murdoch University and Edith Cowan University.
His research is focused on cognitive psychology, human memory, reasoning, decision-making, cognitive modelling, mathematical psychology and methodological issues in human experimental psychology. He has published more than 80 peer-reviewed scientific papers and one book.
Melissa is an experienced academic and leader in psychology education. She is currently the National Discipline Lead for psychology programs in the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Notre Dame Australia.
PhD, MPsych (Clinical), GC Tertiary Education (Management), GC (Tertiary Teaching), BA (Psych) (Hons)
Melissa is an experienced academic and leader in psychology education. She is currently the National Discipline Lead for psychology programs in the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Notre Dame Australia.
Before this Melissa held the role of Associate Dean (Psychology and Criminology) at Edith Cowan University (ECU).
She has also held other leadership roles in psychology education including the inaugural course coordinator of the Graduate Diploma and Graduate Diploma of Psychology (Advanced) at ECU, Master of Professional Psychology at both ECU and Curtin University, and the Director of Teaching and Learning in the School of Psychology and Speech Pathology at Curtin University.
Melissa has also held roles on national committees related to psychology education and training, including the APS College of Clinical Psychologists, APS Division of Education, Research and Training, APS Psychology Education Interest Group and the Psychology Board of Australia National Psychology Examination Committee.
She has substantial experience in professional accreditation as a member of the APAC Accreditation Assessment Committee (AAC) and member of the Australian Dietetics Council Assessment Committee.
Melissa has a professional background as a clinical psychologist working with children and adolescents. She teaches and supervises postgraduate psychology students and her research interests focus around psychology education, including competency development and assessment and psychology trainee wellbeing.
With Thanks to Our Partners
Our sincere thanks to the organisations working alongside APAC to make this conference possible:
- Australian Association of Psychologists (AAPi)
- Australian Indigenous Psychology Education Project (AIPEP)
- Australian Postgraduate Psychology Education Simulation Working Group (APPESWG)
- Australian Psychology Placement Alliance (APPA)
- Australian Psychological Society (APS)
- Heads of Psychology, Australia (HPA)
- The Psychology Board of Australia (PsyBA).
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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How do I contact the organisers if I have questions?
Please contact j.williams@apac.au with any conference-related queries.
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What platform will the conference use?
The conference will be hosted virtually via zoom. A link will be provided to all registered attendees in advance. We strongly recommend attendees to join via the desktop version of Zoom (rather than via mobile) to ensure access to all sessions.
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How do I register?
Registration is now open for APAC’s Community of Practice Conference. A confirmation email and full event details will be shared closer to the date.
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Is the conference free to attend?
Yes. The APAC Community of Practice Conference is free to attend and open to all those with an interest in psychology education and training.
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Video transcript