Ethical Psychological Practice and Leadership

Overview

This unit teaches students to critically synthesise and apply culturally safe, ethical, legal, and professional principles across the lifespan in a range of educational and developmental psychological practice settings. A particular focus is ethical practice and leadership within educational settings. Students learn evidence-based strategies to lead systemic change in educational policy and processes, taking a health equity and human rights approach to prevent learning, behavioural, social-emotional, and other mental health difficulties and achieve equitable outcomes for individuals, groups, and communities. They also build skills in ethical and professional consultation and capacity-building with stakeholders to strengthen student, school, family, and community resilience and wellbeing, including understanding the roles of other service providers. Students will develop their capacity for self-reflection and critical reflexivity on their own social positionality, values, beliefs, biases, and professional competence, recognising when to seek supervision, professional development, and referral.

Unit learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

1. Critically synthesise and apply culturally safe, ethical, legal and professional principles in a range of educational and developmental psychological practice settings to support individuals and groups across the lifespan.
2. Employ advanced leadership skills, using a health equity and human rights approach, to promote systemic changes to educational policy and processes.
3. Advocate for equitable outcomes for individuals, groups, and communities affected by learning, behavioural, social-emotional, and other mental health difficulties.
4. Utilise consultation and capacity-building skills to support a range of education stakeholders to improve student learning, resilience, and wellbeing, including making appropriate referrals, recommending reasonable adjustments, and understanding the roles of other service providers.
5. Engage in self-reflection and critical reflexivity on social positionality, values, beliefs, biases, and professional competencies to recognise when to seek supervision, professional development, or referral.

Teaching methods

All applicable locations

Assessment

Nil

Content

• PsyBA Professional competencies for psychologists (2025)
• PsyBA Code of conduct for psychologists (2025)
• Systematic ethical decision-making tools
• Ethical and culturally safe psychological practice
• Relevant legislation for lawful psychological practice
• Child Safe Standards and mandatory reporting
• Professional self-management and maintaining competency
• Self-reflection and critical reflexivity on social positionality, values, beliefs, and biases
• Identifying systemic issues in education settings
• Health equity and human rights approaches to ethical psychological leadership and advocacy 
• Consultation and capacity-building skills
• Referral pathways and understanding the roles of other service providers
• Graduate Attribute 1 (Communication 1 - Verbal Communication) 
• Graduate Attribute 2 (Communication 2 - Communicating using different media) 
• Graduate Attribute 3 (Teamwork 1 - Collaboration and negotiation) 
• Graduate Attribute 4 (Teamwork 2 - Teamwork roles and processes) 
• Graduate Attribute 6 (Digital Literacies 2 - Technical literacy)