Competency-based standards and guidelines for psychology practice in Australia: opportunities and risks

Competencies unique to clinical neuropsychology: A consensus statement of educators, practitioners, and professional leaders in Australia

Objective: To delineate the unique role of clinical neuropsychologists in contemporary Australian clinical practice and present a comprehensive consensus-based set of clinical neuropsychology competencies to guide and standardize the training of clinical neuropsychologists. Method: Twenty-four national representatives of the clinical neuropsychology profession (71% female, M = 20.1, SD = 8.1 years clinical practice), including tertiary-level educators, senior practitioners and members of the executive committee of the peak national neuropsychology body, formed the Australian Neuropsychology Alliance of Training and Practice Leaders (ANATPL). Informed by a review of existing international competency frameworks and Australian Indigenous psychology education frameworks, a provisional set of competencies for clinical neuropsychology training and practice were developed, followed by 11 rounds of feedback and revisions. Results: The final set of clinical neuropsychology competencies achieved full consensus and falls into three broad categories: generic foundational (i.e. general professional psychology competencies applied to clinical neuropsychology); specific functional (i.e. specific to clinical neuropsychology areas of practice) competencies relevant to all career stages; and functional competencies relevant to advanced career stages. Competencies span a number of knowledge and skill-based domains including neuropsychological models and syndromes, neuropsychological assessment, neuropsychological intervention, consultation, teaching/supervision and management/administration. Conclusion: The competencies reflect recent advances in the field of clinical neuropsychology, including expanded intervention competencies, culturally-informed neuropsychological practice and use of emerging technologies. They will be available as a resource to guide curriculum development for clinical training, as well as providing a useful framework for professional practice and advocacy more broadly within the discipline of clinical neuropsychology.