Preparing for membership renewals

To fulfill the requirement, you must complete a total of 20 hours of Continuing Professional Development (CPD), which can be accumulated in the following ways:

• Category A (mandatory): 10 hours and the remainder made up of additional Category A PD or Category B PD activities (A reflective journal is required for each Category B activity).

Further Information

You can find out more about the requirements on the website HERE.

The annual requirements for practicing members are:

• 10 hours of formal supervision in the last 12 months (on client caseload, not managerial supervision).
• Where you have accrued over 400 client contact hours, 15 hours of formal supervision is required.
• It is recommended 3 hours of Supervision on Supervision ( Supervisor members only).

To maximise the benefit of supervision, CCAA recommends a combination of individual and group or (peer supervision – Clinical or Supervisor members only).

* Your individual supervisor must be accredited by either CCAA, PACFA, AHPRA or AAOS; ACA accredited supervisors must have Level 4 membership and have completed a Bachelor or Master’s degree in counselling.*

Supervision Contract

It would be helpful to have a supervision contract for the financial year and not the calendar year. A contract is needed for individual supervision as well as the group supervision.

(You do not need a contract for Peer supervision – This applies to Clinical and Clinical Supervisor members).

Low cost group supervision

CCAA offers a list of accredited supervisors for your convenience.
Download the Group Supervision Directory

Further Information

For supervision requirements for your level of membership check the Membership levels page on the website.

CCAA Counsellors operating in self-employed private practice are required to hold current professional indemnity and public liability insurance, ensuring it is renewed on time. For those employed, it is essential to obtain a letter from your employer or policy that confirms your coverage as an employee.

*  CCAA Graduate, Clinical and Supervisor members are eligible for a special discount on Professional Indemnity Insurance through insurance.com.au. For further details regarding the requirements, click HERE.

Note: There will be a 4% CPI increase effective June 1, 2025. If you already have indemnity insurance with insurance.com.au please click HERE for further details.

If you are a practicing member, you need to have a current National Police Check (obtained after 1 July 2023). If you do not have one, please take steps to secure one and when you have received it, upload it to your portal.

To obtain a National Police check, you can contact an ACIC-accredited body or an Australian police agency  that can process the check for you.

Additional details on acquiring a National Police Check can be found on the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission Website.

If you are a PACFA member you have the option to apply for a National Police Check via PACFA’s partner, ANCC.

For further information please read the PACFA Criminal History Standard.

If you are a practicing member, you need to have a current Working with Children’s Check (only if Working with Children and Adolescents). If you do not have one, please take steps to secure one and when you have received it, upload it to your portal.

For additional information on obtaining a Working with Children Check, visit the ACIC website.

 *CCAA CPD and Supervision Pro-rata Exemption

Are you in your first year of membership? You only need to complete 2 hours of supervision and attend one PD workshop.

*PACFA CPD and Supervision Pro-rata Exemption

If you joined PACFA for the first time during the membership year, you have a pro-rata exemption for some of the standard required CPD and supervision hours, based on the month you joined. Information about how to calculate the exemption hours is below. The exemption will be automatically applied based on your join date and you are required to enter only the pro-rata hours.

If you hold dual CCAA/PACFA membership as a Member Association Member, CCAA will process your renewal of PACFA membership. Simply opt in to PACFA membership renewal when you renew your CCAA membership, and we will take care of the rest, we will send PACFA the MAM list at the beginning of September. This membership renewal fee is free and includes membership with the PACFA College of Counsellors. (If you are a member of additional colleges or an accredited PACFA supervisor, PACFA will subsequently charge you a fee for membership with these colleges).

*PACFA will continue to send you reminders, please ignore these as this option cannot be turned off in their system.*

*NOTE: If you do not choose to opt in, you will have to renew your membership with PACFA separately; do not assume that automatic renewal will occur.

You must renew your membership before you apply for an upgrade.
Please renew at your current level and then we will process the upgrade and fees accordingly. You can find out more about the different membership requirements and levels on the website HERE.

Are you reactivating your membership or returning from Leave of Absence (LOA). You do not need to complete any CPD hours. You can enter 0 for your supervision and PD workshop hours.
However, if your membership was active for part of the membership year prior to your leave and you have not fulfilled the necessary CPD and supervision hours during that active period, you will be required to complete those hours upon your return.

If you are a Lapsed Member – you will have received this notification too. You can rejoin CCAA by renewing your past membership and paying the lapsed fee of $33. If you do not wish to be on our register – please advise us and we can deactivate your account. If you have not been actively practicing as a counsellor, please advise the Office, and CCAA may waive your CPD requirements.

* Available to Members, Graduate Members, Clinical Members and Clinical Supervisors.

Directory of low cost group supervisors

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