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Guides to professional supervision

Clear answers about supervision in Australia, for practitioners and the supervisors who work with them.

Written for counsellors, psychotherapists and social workers. Every rule links to the ACA, PACFA or AASW policy it comes from.

On this page

Written by Hailee Walker, Luke Amery and Montana Harper. Checked against each body’s current policy.

For practitioners

Getting the supervision you need

For counsellors, psychotherapists and social workers receiving supervision, whether you’re looking for a supervisor or keeping the one you have.

  1. Finding a supervisorACA · PACFA · AASW

    The right professional supervisor is someone who understands the work you do, and who you feel safe enough to be open with. On Supriva, matching does the searching for you.

    Hailee Walker, Co-founder and chief executive officer · Reviewed 16 October 2026 · 3 min read

  2. How oftenACA · PACFA · AASW

    Most practitioners do best with supervision every two to four weeks, spread evenly across the year. All three associations set a yearly minimum of at least 10 hours, and ACA also asks that those hours are regular rather than gathered into one or two long sittings.

    Hailee Walker, Co-founder and chief executive officer · Reviewed 16 October 2026 · 2 min read

  3. Your recordPACFA · AASW

    You prove your supervision hours with a record your supervisor has signed, showing the date, the length and the type of each session.

    Luke Amery, Co-founder and chief technology officer · Reviewed 16 October 2026 · 2 min read

  4. Online supervisionACA · PACFA · AASW

    Yes. Supervision by video call counts towards your hours with ACA and AASW, and PACFA’s own standards describe supervision by video as one of the ways a competent supervisor works.

    Luke Amery, Co-founder and chief technology officer · Reviewed 16 October 2026 · 2 min read

  5. Your own supervisorACA · PACFA · AASW

    Yes. If you already have a supervisor you value, you can bring them with you to Supriva and carry on exactly as you are.

    Montana Harper, Head of operations · Reviewed 16 October 2026 · 3 min read

For supervisors

Supervising on Supriva

For supervisors joining Supriva, building a practice here, or running a group.

  1. Becoming a supervisorACA · PACFA · AASW

    To become a professional supervisor in Australia, you build several years of practice experience, complete a supervision training course that meets your association’s standards, and then apply for its supervisor recognition.

    Hailee Walker, Co-founder and chief executive officer · Reviewed 16 October 2026 · 3 min read

  2. Group supervisionACA · PACFA · AASW

    Group supervision counts towards hours with ACA, PACFA and AASW when it is a structured session led by a supervisor the association recognises. The rules differ most on group size, so if your group includes members of more than one association, keeping it to six supervisees means every hour counts for everyone in the room.

    Hailee Walker, Co-founder and chief executive officer · Reviewed 16 October 2026 · 3 min read

  3. AgreementsACA · PACFA · AASW

    A supervision agreement is the written understanding between supervisor and supervisee about how you will work together. A good one covers the purpose of supervision, how sessions run, what counts towards registration, each person’s responsibilities, fees and cancellations, confidentiality and its limits, how concerns are raised, and how the arrangement ends.

    Montana Harper, Head of operations · Reviewed 16 October 2026 · 3 min read

  4. Signing off hoursACA · PACFA · AASW

    On Supriva, you sign off a supervisee’s hours at the end of each session, simply by confirming that the session went ahead. Your supervisee confirms too, and together those two confirmations build their record of supervision, with the date, length and type of every session.

    Montana Harper, Head of operations · Reviewed 16 October 2026 · 3 min read

  5. Supervision notesACA · PACFA · AASW

    Keep supervision notes de-identified, encrypted and separate from the record of hours you share for sign-off. Write enough to stand behind your supervision later, and nothing that would identify a client.

    Luke Amery, Co-founder and chief technology officer · Reviewed 16 October 2026 · 3 min read

Who writes these guides

Each guide is written by the person at Supriva who knows that part best.

  • Hailee WalkerCo-founder and chief executive officer

    A registered counsellor with over a decade in practice and six years as a clinical supervisor. Hailee writes about requirements, recognition and the practice of supervision.

    More about Hailee

  • Luke AmeryCo-founder and chief technology officer

    Luke built Supriva. He writes about your supervision record, payments and how the platform works.

    More about Luke

  • Montana HarperHead of operations

    Montana runs Supriva’s operations, from joining to support. She writes about getting started, booking and the day-to-day.

    More about Montana

How we keep them accurate

When a body changes its policy, we review every guide that relies on it. The date on a guide changes only when the guide does.

The policies we check against

Your association has the final say on which supervision you can count. If in doubt, please check with your association.