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Psychologists and Psychotherapists

ANZSCO ID 2723

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Overview

Snapshot

Employed
44,300
Future Growth
13.3%
Weekly Earnings
$2,066
Full-Time Share
51%
Female Share
80%
Average age
44
About this data

Summary

Psychologists and Psychotherapists investigate, assess and provide treatment and counselling to foster optimal personal, social, educational and occupational adjustment and development.

Tasks

  • collecting data about clients and assessing their cognitive, behavioural and emotional disorders

  • administering and interpreting diagnostic tests and formulating plans for treatment

  • developing, administering and evaluating individual and group treatment programs

  • consulting with other professionals on details of cases and treatment plans

  • conducting research studies of motivation in learning, group performance and individual differences in mental abilities and educational performance

  • collecting data and analysing characteristics of students and recommending educational programs

  • formulating achievement, diagnostic and predictive tests for use by teachers in planning methods and content of instruction

  • developing interview techniques, psychological tests and other aids in workplace selection, placement, appraisal and promotion

  • conducting surveys and research studies on job design, work groups, morale, motivation, supervision and management

  • performing job analyses and establishing job requirements by observing and interviewing employees and managers

Characteristics

Job Type
Professionals
Skill Level
Very high skill
ANZSCO Occupation group
2723 Psychologists and Psychotherapists This occupation is Current selected
Unemployment Rate
Below average
Industries
Pathway(s)
  • University
Interests
  • Analytical
  • Creative
  • Helping
Physical Demand
  • Sedentary

Outlook

Employment Outlook

JSA produces employment projections to show where likely future job opportunities may be. The latest data are for the five years from November 2021 to November 2026. Over this period, the number of workers:

  • is expected to grow strongly
  • is likely to reach 35,100 by 2026.

    • Source: Jobs and Skills Australia Employment Projections to 2026.

    Notes: The number employed includes people who work in this occupation as their main job. People who work in more than one job are counted against the occupation they work the most hours in.

    Employment projections figures are rounded to the nearest 100. Calculations based on these rounded figures may result in differences to the numbers that are displayed on this page. Employment projections data (including occupations) can be downloaded from the Employment Projections page.

Projected Change
13.3%
(or 4,100 jobs)
From
31,000
in 2021
To
35,100
in 2026

Number of Workers

Source: ABS Labour Force Survey, ABS seasonally adjusted data to November 2021 and Jobs and Skills Australia Employment Projections to 2026.
Year Employment
2011 21,400
2012 18,500
2013 23,300
2014 24,600
2015 23,300
2016 29,000
2017 30,300
2018 32,200
2019 31,300
2020 34,400
2021 31,000
2026 35,100

Source: ABS Labour Force Survey, ABS seasonally adjusted data to November 2021 and Jobs and Skills Australia Employment Projections to 2026.

Earnings and hours

Working arrangements

  • Around 52% of people employed as Psychologists and Psychotherapists work full-time hours, in all their jobs combined. This is 14 percentage points below the all jobs average (66%).

    Full-time workers work an average of 43 hours per week in their main job. This is similar to the all jobs average (44 hours per week).

    More than a third of workers regularly work overtime or extra hours (either paid or unpaid).

    Median full-time earnings are $2,066 per week, this is much higher than the all jobs median ($1,593):

    • 3 in 4 workers earn more than $1,730
    • 1 in 4 earn more than $2,329

    Median hourly earnings are $59, this is more than the all jobs median ($41 per hour).

    Sources: Full-time share and full-time hours: ABS, 2016 Census, customised report. Compared to the all jobs average. Overtime hours: ABS, Characteristics of Employment, 2021. Full-time median earnings and median hourly earnings: ABS, Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2021. Compared to all jobs median.

Weekly Earnings (Before Tax)

Source: Based on ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2021, Customised Report. Median weekly total cash earnings for full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate. Earnings are before tax and include amounts salary sacrificed. Earnings can vary greatly depending on the skills and experience of the worker and the demands of the role. These figures should be used as a guide only, not to determine a wage rate.
Earnings Psychologists and Psychotherapists All Jobs Average
Full-Time Earnings 2,066 1,593
Total Earnings 0 0

Source: Based on ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2021, Customised Report. Median weekly total cash earnings for full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate. Earnings are before tax and include amounts salary sacrificed. Earnings can vary greatly depending on the skills and experience of the worker and the demands of the role. These figures should be used as a guide only, not to determine a wage rate.

Industries

Main industries

1
Health Care and Social Assistance
76.1%
2
Education and Training
15.8%
3
Public Administration and Safety
5.6%
4
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
1.2%
5
Other industries
1.2%

Regions

Employment across Australia

NSW

33.8% All occupations: 31.6%

VIC

26.6% All occupations: 25.6%

QLD

18.6% All occupations: 20.0%

SA

5.3% All occupations: 7.0%

WA

10.7% All occupations: 10.8%

TAS

1.8% All occupations: 2.0%

NT

0.6% All occupations: 1.0%

ACT

2.5% All occupations: 1.9%

Employment by State and Territory (% Share)

State Psychologists and Psychotherapists All Jobs Average
NSW 33.8 31.6
VIC 26.6 25.6
QLD 18.6 20.0
SA 5.3 7.0
WA 10.7 10.8
TAS 1.8 2.0
NT 0.6 1.0
ACT 2.5 1.9


Worker profile

Age and gender

Age In Years
44
All Jobs Average is 40
Female Share
80%
All Jobs Average is 48%

  • The median age of Psychologists and Psychotherapists is 44 years. This is higher than the all jobs average of 40 years.

    A large share of workers are aged 35 to 44 years.

    Females make up 80% of the workforce. This is 32 percentage points above the all jobs average of 48%.

    Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile and gender share compared to the all jobs average.

Age Profile (% Share)

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.
Age Bracket Psychologists and Psychotherapists All Jobs Average
15-19 0.1 5.0
20-24 1.5 9.3
25-34 23.5 22.9
35-44 27.3 22.0
45-54 21.2 21.6
55-59 9.6 9.0
60-64 8.3 6.0
65 and Over 8.5 4.2
Median Age 44 40

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.

Employment Pathways

Education, training and experience

A postgraduate degree in psychology and a period of supervised practice is needed to work as a Psychologist. While a bachelor degree in psychotherapy is usually needed to work as a Psychotherapist.

Registration with the Psychology Board of Australia is required.

Visit

  • Course Seeker to search and compare higher education courses.
  • ComparED to compare undergraduate and postgraduate student experiences and outcomes.

Highest Level of Education (% Share)

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.
Type of Qualification Psychologists and Psychotherapists All Jobs Average
Post Graduate/Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate 76.8 10.1
Bachelor degree 20.9 21.8
Advanced Diploma/Diploma 1.2 11.6
Certificate III/IV 0.2 21.1
Year 12 0.8 18.1
Year 11 0.0 4.8
Year 10 and below 0.0 12.5

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.

Skills and Knowledge

Employers look for Psychologists who are caring, compassionate, empathetic and work well in a team.

Skills

Skills can be improved through training or experience.

  • 73%

    Social perceptiveness

    Understanding why people react the way they do.

  • 68%

    Active listening

    Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

  • 68%

    Reading comprehension

    Reading work related information.

  • 63%

    Speaking

    Talking to others.

  • 59%

    Active learning

    Being able to use what you have learnt to solve problems now and again in the future.

  • 59%

    Serving others

    Looking for ways to help people.

  • 59%

    Writing

    Writing things for co-workers or customers.

  • 57%

    Complex problem solving

    Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

  • 57%

    Critical thinking

    Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

  • 57%

    Monitoring

    Keeping track of how well work is progressing so you can make changes or improvements.

  • 57%

    Persuasion

    Talking people into changing their minds or their behaviour.

  • 55%

    Judgment and decision making

    Figuring out the pros and cons of different options and choosing the best one.

  • 54%

    Learning strategies

    Figuring out the best way to teach or learn something new.

  • 50%

    Science

    Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.

  • 48%

    Instructing

    Teaching people how to do something.

  • 48%

    Time management

    Managing your own and other peoples' time to get work done.

  • 46%

    Coordination with others

    Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.

  • 45%

    Negotiation

    Bringing people together and trying to sort out their differences.

  • 43%

    Management of personnel resources

    Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, and choosing the best people for the job.

  • 43%

    Systems analysis

    Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect it.

Knowledge

These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.

  • 97%

    Therapy and counselling

    Diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and career counselling and guidance.

  • 96%

    Psychology

    Human behaviour; differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; research methods; assessing and treating disorders.

  • 77%

    Customer and personal service

    Understanding customer needs, providing good quality service, and measuring customer satisfaction.

  • 74%

    English language

    English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

  • 66%

    Education and training

    Curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

  • 56%

    Personnel and human resources

    Recruiting and training people, managing pay and other entitlements (like sick leave), and negotiating pay and conditions.

  • 53%

    Sociology and anthropology

    Group behaviour and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.

  • 51%

    Philosophy and theology

    Philosophical systems and religions, including their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and impact on society.

  • 49%

    Computers and electronics

    Circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

  • 47%

    Law and government

    How our laws and courts work. Government rules and regulations, and the political system.

  • 47%

    Mathematics

    Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.

  • 45%

    Administration and management

    Business principles involved in strategic planning, leadership, and coordinating people and resources.

  • 43%

    Public safety and security

    Use of equipment, rules and ideas to protect people, data, property, and institutions.

  • 41%

    Medicine and dentistry

    Diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities, including preventive health-care measures.

  • 36%

    Clerical

    Word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office work.

  • 32%

    Communications and media

    Media production, communication, and dissemination. Includes written, spoken, and visual media.

  • 31%

    Biology

    Plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, how they rely on and work with each other and the environment.

  • 21%

    Chemistry

    Chemical composition, structure, and properties. How chemicals are made, used, mixed, and can change.

  • 17%

    History and archeology

    Events of the past, their causes, how we learn about them, and how they influence the way we live today.

  • 11%

    Telecommunications

    Transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

Abilities

Workers use these physical and mental abilities..

  • 71%

    Problem spotting

    Notice when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong, even if you can't solve the problem.

  • 68%

    Oral expression

    Communicate by speaking.

  • 66%

    Deductive reasoning

    Use general rules to find answers or solve problems logically.

  • 66%

    Inductive reasoning

    Use lots of detailed information to come up with answers or make general rules.

  • 66%

    Written comprehension

    Read and understand written information.

  • 64%

    Oral comprehension

    Listen to and understand what people say.

  • 59%

    Written expression

    Write in a way that people can understand.

  • 52%

    Speech clarity

    Speak clearly so others can understand you.

  • 52%

    Originality

    Come up with unusual or clever ideas, or creative ways to solve a problem.

  • 50%

    Brainstorming

    Come up with a number of ideas about a topic, even if the ideas aren't very good.

  • 50%

    Speech recognition

    Identify and understand the speech of another person.

  • 48%

    Categorising

    Come up with different ways of grouping things.

  • 48%

    Near vision

    See details that are up-close (within a few feet).

  • 46%

    Flexibility of closure

    See a pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) hidden in other distracting material.

  • 46%

    Sorting or ordering

    Order or arrange things in a pattern or sequence (e.g., numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

  • 43%

    Selective attention

    Pay attention to something without being distracted.

  • 39%

    Speed of recognition

    Quickly make sense of and organize things you can see like letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

  • 34%

    Far vision

    See details that are far away.

  • 34%

    Memorization

    Remember things like words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.

  • 34%

    Multitasking

    Do two or more things at the same time.

Activities

These are kinds of activities workers regularly do in this job.

  • 88%

    Helping and caring for others

    Providing personal assistance, medical attention, or emotional support.

  • 87%

    Assessing and evaluating things

    Working out the value, importance, or quality of things, services or people.

  • 84%

    Building good relationships

    Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.

  • 82%

    Researching and investigating

    Looking for, getting and understanding different kinds of information.

  • 80%

    Keeping your knowledge up-to-date

    Keeping up-to-date with technology and new ideas.

  • 78%

    Looking for changes over time

    Comparing objects, actions, or events. Looking for differences between them or changes over time.

  • 78%

    Monitoring people, processes and things

    Checking objects, actions, or events, and keeping an eye out for problems.

  • 72%

    Making decisions and solving problems

    Using information to work out the best solution and solve problems.

  • 71%

    Negotiating and resolving conflicts

    Handling complaints and disagreements, and negotiating with people.

  • 71%

    Coaching and developing others

    Working out the needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or helping them to improve.

  • 69%

    Collecting and organising information

    Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or checking information or data.

  • 68%

    Explaining things to people

    Helping people to understand and use information.

  • 67%

    Documenting or recording information

    Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.

  • 65%

    Checking compliance with standards

    Deciding whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.

  • 65%

    Thinking creatively

    Using your own ideas for developing, designing, or creating something new.

  • 64%

    Making sense of information and ideas

    Looking at, working with, and understanding data or information.

  • 63%

    Coming up with systems and processes

    Deciding on goals and figuring out what you need to do to achieve them.

  • 62%

    Working with the public

    Greeting or serving customers, clients or guests, and public speaking or performing.

  • 59%

    Training and teaching others

    Understanding the needs of others, developing training programs, and teaching or instructing.

  • 50%

    Working with computers

    Using computers to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.

Interests and demands

Learn about the daily activities, and physical and social demands faced by workers. Explore the values and work styles that workers rate as most important.

Interests

Interests are the style or type of work we prefer to do. All interest areas are shown below.

  • 95%

    Analytical

    Ideas and thinking. Searching for facts and figuring out problems in your head.

  • 86%

    Helping

    Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.

  • 71%

    Creative

    Working with forms, designs and patterns. Often need self-expression and can be done without following rules.

  • 38%

    Enterprising

    Starting up and carrying out projects. Leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes require risk taking and often deal with business.

  • 24%

    Administrative

    Following set procedures and routines. Working with numbers and details more than with ideas, usually following rules.

  • 24%

    Practical

    Practical, hands-on work. Often with plants and animals, or materials like wood, tools, and machinery.

Values

Work values are important to a person’s feeling of satisfaction. All six values are shown below.

  • 95%

    Relationships

    Serve and work with others. Workers usually get along well with each other, do things to help other people, and are rarely pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.

  • 86%

    Independence

    Work alone and make decisions. Workers are able to try out their own ideas, make decisions on their own, and work with little or no supervision.

  • 81%

    Achievement

    Results oriented. Workers are able to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

  • 79%

    Working conditions

    Job security and good working conditions. There is usually a steady flow of interesting work, and the pay and conditions are generally good.

  • 76%

    Recognition

    Advancement and the potential to lead. Workers are recognised for the work that they do, they may give directions and instructions to others, and they are looked up to in their company and their community.

  • 43%

    Support

    Supportive management that stands behind employees. Workers are treated fairly by their company, they are supported by management, and have supervisors who train them well.

Demands

The physical and social demands that workers face most often are shown below:

  • 100%

    Face-to-face discussions

    Talk with people face-to-face.

  • 99%

    Indoors, heat controlled

    Work indoors with access to heating or cooling.

  • 98%

    Telephone

    Talk on the telephone.

  • 96%

    Freedom to make decisions

    Have freedom to make decision on your own.

  • 95%

    Unstructured work

    Have freedom to decide on tasks, priorities, and goals.

  • 93%

    Spend time sitting

    Spend time sitting at work.

  • 92%

    Frequent decision making

    Frequently make decisions that impact other people.

  • 92%

    Contact with people

    Have contact with people by telephone, face-to-face, or any other way.

  • 87%

    Impact of decisions

    Make decisions that have a large impact on other people.

  • 84%

    Letters and memos

    Write letters and memos.

  • 83%

    Electronic mail

    Use electronic mail.

  • 83%

    Contact with the public

    Work with customers or the public.

  • 79%

    Being exact or accurate

    Be very exact or highly accurate.

  • 77%

    Consequence of error

    Work where mistakes have serious consequences.

  • 72%

    Time pressure

    Work to strict deadlines.

  • 70%

    Physically close to people

    Work physically close to other people.

  • 67%

    Conflict situations

    Deal with conflict or disagreements.

  • 65%

    Disease or infection

    Be exposed to disease or infections.

  • 64%

    Teamwork

    Work with people in a group or team.

  • 64%

    Angry or unpleasant people

    Deal with unpleasant, angry, or rude people.

Occupational Information Network
O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 19-3031.02 - Clinical Psychologists.

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