The Department has advised the PSA they had conducted a review into psychological services in 2021. They have been working on making improvements to how psychologists are organised and supported in the work that they do.

Two of the key recommendations of the review were to move away from having two separate role descriptions – Professional Development Psychologist (PDPs) and Clinical Managers – and to bring Youth Justice (YJ) frontline Psychologists together as a unified psych services team. The intent here is to ensure they have a more consistent state-wide coverage and service – this is something that has been raised in the Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) in the past.

The Department has been working through options to achieve this and are now able to commence a formal period of consultation. Briefings commenced on Monday 17 April 2023, with the consultation period running until Monday  1 May. The changes are penciled in to commence on 1 July, but this will depend on how the consultation process progresses.

The Department states these changes are not far reaching but will have an impact for some individuals – these points give an idea of the scope of the proposals being consulted on:

• A new Clinical Manager role description – there are currently 4 of these roles in YJ with 3 substantively filled. New draft role description are at the same grade and will have minimal impact on these staff.
• Replacing two Professional Development Psychologist roles with Clinical Manager roles and assigning the one substantive occupant directly to this new role. This would be an at grade assignment under the GSE.
• Changing the reporting line of around 20 frontline psychologists to report directly through to the updated Clinical Manager roles. This obviously impacts both the Psychologists and Clinical Managers.

If members have concerns, please contact the PSA Member Support Centre on   or you PSA Industrial staff:

Industrial Officer – Gino DiCandilo

Organiser – Jo Aboud

If not yet a member please join at www.psa.asn.au/join and have a say in your workplace.

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