AHPRA 2025 & WA's New Workers' Comp Act: Higher Bar for Psych Reports
The 2025 Regulatory Overhaul: A Higher Bar for Psychological Expert Evidence in WA
The Australian psychological profession has undergone its most significant regulatory transformation in 15 years. Effective 1 December 2025, the Psychology Board of Australia introduced a new, Board-specific Code of Conduct — replacing the Australian Psychological Society (APS) Code of Ethics that had served as the regulatory foundation since 2010. At the same time, Western Australia's Workers' Compensation and Injury Management Act 2023 has fully modernised the framework governing psychological injury claims.
For lawyers, insurers, and individuals navigating compensation matters in Perth and across Western Australia, these dual developments are not simply administrative updates. They represent a materially higher standard of evidence, conduct, and professional accountability for any AHPRA-registered psychologist providing expert testimony or formal assessments.
What Changed: The New AHPRA Code of Conduct
Prior to December 2025, registered psychologists in Australia were bound by the APS Code of Ethics as the de facto regulatory instrument. The Psychology Board of Australia has now replaced this with an independent, profession-specific Code of Conduct that sets clearer and more enforceable expectations across all professional domains — including medico-legal practice.
Key implications for medico-legal psychological reports include:
- Explicit independence obligations: Psychologists providing expert evidence must demonstrably act in the interests of the court or tribunal, not the instructing party — a standard now codified directly under the Board's own regulatory framework rather than a professional association's guidelines.
- Transparency in methodology: Assessors are required to be transparent about the tools, clinical reasoning, and evidence base underpinning their opinions. Vague or unsubstantiated conclusions carry greater regulatory risk than ever before.
- Conflicts of interest: The new Code strengthens requirements around disclosure, particularly in matters where a treating psychologist is asked to transition into a medico-legal reporting role.
- Competency boundaries: Psychologists must only undertake assessments within their demonstrated areas of competency — a critical consideration when courts require forensic-level expertise in areas such as fitness to stand trial, criminal responsibility, or complex trauma.
For instructing solicitors and claims managers, these changes mean that the quality and rigour of a psychological expert report are now more tightly regulated than at any previous point in Australian history.
Western Australia's 2023 Workers' Compensation Act and Psychological Injury Claims
Concurrently, the Workers' Compensation and Injury Management Act 2023 (WA) has reshaped the legal landscape for psychological injury claims in the state. The Act modernises and consolidates earlier legislation, with significant consequences for how psychological injuries are assessed, documented, and contested.
The 'Reasonable Management Action' Defence
One of the most practically significant challenges under the 2023 Act — as under its predecessor — is the 'reasonable management action' defence. Insurers routinely rely on this provision to reject claims where a psychological injury arises from performance management, workplace restructuring, or disciplinary processes. To overcome this defence, claimants require robust, clinically grounded evidence that:
- A diagnosable psychological condition exists (meeting DSM-5 or ICD-11 criteria);
- The injury arose out of, or in the course of, employment;
- The employment was a significant contributing factor to the injury; and
- The management action was not reasonable in the circumstances — or, where it was reasonable, that it was not carried out in a reasonable manner.
This is precisely the standard that high-quality personal injuries psychological reports Perth practitioners provide must address. A report that merely confirms a diagnosis without engaging with causation, work-relatedness, and the claimant's functional capacity will not withstand scrutiny under the 2023 framework.
A Surge in Claims Across WA
The demand for expert psychological assessments in Western Australia has increased dramatically. Some sectors — including corrective services — have reported increases in psychological injury claims of over 110%, reflecting broader societal and workplace pressures accelerated by post-pandemic conditions. For legal practitioners and insurers, this surge underscores the importance of working with AHPRA-registered forensic psychologists who understand both the clinical and legislative dimensions of these matters.
What This Means for Lawyers and Insurers Instructing Psychological Experts
If you are a solicitor or claims professional in Western Australia instructing a psychologist to prepare medico-legal psychological reports, the following practical considerations now apply:
- Verify AHPRA registration and endorsement: Ensure your expert holds current general or forensic registration with the Psychology Board of Australia, and that their registration status is compliant with the new Code of Conduct obligations.
- Clarify the scope of instructions: Under the Joint Guidelines issued by the Law Society of Western Australia and the AMA (WA), lawyers are responsible for payment of expert fees unless otherwise agreed. Clear, written instructions reduce scope ambiguity and protect both parties.
- Allow appropriate turnaround time: Standard turnaround for motor vehicle accident and workers' compensation psychological assessments in WA is typically six weeks. Courts and tribunals increasingly expect comprehensive, well-reasoned reports — not expedited summaries. Where urgent assessment is required (for example, in terminal illness matters), expedited timeframes can be arranged.
- Distinguish treating psychologists from medico-legal assessors: A treating psychologist's clinical notes are not a substitute for an independent medico-legal report. The new AHPRA Code of Conduct reinforces this distinction, and courts are increasingly alert to the risks of role confusion.
Criminal Injuries Compensation Reports in WA
For matters before the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal of Western Australia, the evidentiary standards for psychological injury are equally demanding. Criminal injuries compensation reports WA practitioners prepare must document the nature and extent of psychological harm with clinical precision, address causation in the context of the criminal act, and provide an evidence-based prognosis. The new AHPRA Code of Conduct directly strengthens the credibility and defensibility of such reports when prepared by fully registered, appropriately qualified psychologists.
Psychological Reports for Court: Fitness, Sentencing, and Expert Witness Obligations
For criminal law practitioners, psychological reports for court encompass a range of specialised assessments — including fitness to stand trial evaluations, pre-sentencing psychological reports, and expert witness testimony. These reports must comply with the Evidence Act 1906 (WA) and the Criminal Procedure Act 2004 (WA), as well as the expert witness duties codified in court practice directions. The December 2025 AHPRA Code of Conduct aligns professional obligations more closely with these legal duties, reinforcing the primacy of the court's interests over those of the instructing party.
Working With Cygnet Medico-Legal Psychologists
Cygnet Medico-Legal Psychologists is Perth's leading AHPRA-registered forensic psychology practice, providing independent psychological assessments across Western Australia. Our practitioners are experienced in the full spectrum of medico-legal work, including:
- Medico-legal psychological reports for workers' compensation and motor vehicle accidents
- Criminal injuries compensation reports WA (CICT matters)
- Psychological reports for court — including fitness to stand trial, pre-sentencing, and expert witness
- Personal injuries psychological reports Perth
- Complex trauma, psychiatric disability, and functional capacity assessments
All our reports are prepared in accordance with the new December 2025 AHPRA Code of Conduct and the evidentiary requirements of the Workers' Compensation and Injury Management Act 2023 (WA).
To discuss a referral or instruct our team, contact us at:
- Fremantle: (08) 9467 6373
- Midland: (08) 9467 7676
We work directly with solicitors, insurers, and self-represented individuals across Perth and regional Western Australia. Whether you need a straightforward personal injury assessment or a complex forensic evaluation, our team is equipped to provide expert, defensible, and clinically rigorous psychological opinions.