Despite growing need, psychology ‘almost impossible’ to study at university

Droves of eager students are being turned away from psychology qualifications as universities struggle to keep courses open in a mental health crisis.

Provisional psychologist Nita Roschanzamir is one of thousands of psychology students locked out of the field due to declining availability. Picture: James Dowling

University psychology course closures are leaving desperate students – and a nationwide backlog of patients – caught in a bottleneck, as aspiring new clinicians struggle to enter the industry.

Psychology has become the most in-demand postgraduate degree in NSW and the ACT, but 79 of the 187 courses offered nationally have stopped new intakes, the majority shutting all together.

The demand for clinical psychology appointments has steadily risen since the pandemic. The health burden represents a $10bn loss in productivity for employers, as part of the $220bn in losses cited by the Productivity Commission’s mental health inquiry report

Australian Psychological Society president Catriona Davis-McCabe said students were falling victim to an underfunded tertiary sector. “There are thousands of students who want to be psychologists and want to go on and do the training, and they’re being turned away,” Dr Davis-McCabe said.

“It’s a very, very expensive course to run because there are placements and there’s a high lecturer to student ratio.”

Australian Psychological Society president Catriona Davis-McCabe.

According to the federal mental health workforce strategy, Australia meets only 35 per cent of its psychology workforce target.

“When we reduce the training to what we have now, there’s a massive shortage of psychologists,” Dr Davis-McCabe said.

“The government has looked at some really good initiatives, like introducing digital platforms and digital support for people. But that is not going to help people with complex mental health issues.”

In specialised areas of practise like forensic or community psychology, the university offerings are even more dire.

“We’re seeing those programs close one after another. Some of these postgraduate programs only have one left in the country, and we’re losing them,” she said. “It’s almost impossible to get in.”

According to the University Admissions Centre, psychology postgraduate courses topped the preferences in NSW and the ACT, taking five of the top 12 courses. This included the first and second most lucrative offerings.

Provisional psychologist and forensic psychology student Nita Roschanzamir was locked out of her masters and PhD in psychology despite securing dual scholarships for her research.

“I fell in love with psychology in high school, and with what makes people the way they are,” Ms Roschanzamir said.

The 27-year-old successfully enrolled in UNSW’s Bachelor of Psychology, before passing her honours with a 90 per cent assessment average.

When she applied for the Master’s and PhD combined program, she secured both the government Research Training Program scholarship and a Westpac Future Leaders scholarship.

“This was like $200,000 worth of scholarship money. That’s highly competitive to get,” she said. “But when I applied for UNSW, I didn’t get in, because that year, they were only taking six students out of about 800.

“I just had to keep trying year after year. I tried for three years.”

She now works in provisional psychology, a more restricted profession, and warns aspiring students of the slim prospects.

“It’s just become harder, and harder, and harder to get in,” she said. “I’ve spoken to so many people in the university sector … about this issue, and they’re all on the students’ side.

“They want to admit these students, and they feel like they’re making a decision between a rock and a hard place.”