12/10/2026
Mental health professionals — psychologists, psychiatrists, counsellors, and social workers — have an important and growing role in Australian healthcare. They also have meaningful work-related deductions that the ATO recognises under its healthcare professional guidelines.
Psychology-specific deductions: AHPRA registration (mandatory for psychologists and some other mental health professionals), professional association memberships (APS, AASW, ACA, and specialty divisions), CPD requirements for maintaining registration or endorsement, clinical supervision costs (supervision received as a practitioner requirement), clinical reference materials, psychological assessment tools purchased personally, and specialist training (CBT, ACT, EMDR, and other evidence-based therapy modalities).
For provisionally registered psychologists: supervision is a mandatory and ongoing professional requirement — the cost of supervision sessions with a supervisor is deductible as a professional development expense.
Work attire: unlike some healthcare roles, the clinical clothing requirements for mental health professionals are generally not so distinctive as to be deductible uniform costs. Focus on other deductions.
For psychologists in private practice: a much broader range of expenses applies, including room rental, practice management software, reception staff, professional indemnity insurance (significant for practitioners), and practice development costs.
The ATO requires all claimed expenses to be directly connected to the income-earning activities. TaxSmart Cafe provides comprehensive deduction reviews for mental health professionals, ensuring every eligible cost is captured.
