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CourseFinder helps you discover and enroll in top courses from Australia’s leading providers, making it easy to kick-start or continue your career journey.
Follow Us
© 2026 CourseFinder Australia Pty Ltd, All Rights Reserved
Sports Psychology
Sports psychology looks at the mind side of sport. It helps athletes, coaches and teams handle stress, stay focused and bounce back after a setback. The field mixes core psychology with exercise science, and that mix covers both mind and body under game pressure.
Sport and exercise psychology sits inside Australia’s wider psychology workforce. Jobs and Skills Australia counts over 54,000 psychologists and psychotherapists across the country, with steady growth expected each year. Most people in this field mix private work with contracts at clubs, academies and community groups.
To practise, you first need general registration with the Psychology Board of Australia through AHPRA. Sport and exercise psychology has its own area of practice endorsement, which means extra supervised training on top of general registration. Many practitioners also join the APS College of Sport and Exercise Psychologists, the field’s main professional group.
Entry starts with a basic degree in psychology. From there, most people move on to further study with a sport or performance focus, such as a Graduate Diploma of Psychology. Compare study options on CourseFinder to find a course that fits your goals.
You can study much of the theory online. Clinical work and hands-on practice still need to happen in person, to meet AHPRA registration rules. Look for a provider that offers flexible or blended study.
You need an accredited psychology degree, then further study with a sport or performance focus. Registration with the Psychology Board of Australia, through AHPRA, comes after that.
Sports psychologists do clinical training and hold AHPRA registration. Performance coaches may bring years of hands-on skill or a coaching badge, but they do not need clinical study. Both roles matter in sport, but the rules for each are quite different.
Yes. Many undergraduate programs offer units in sport or performance psychology. A true focus in this area then comes at postgraduate level, once you hold an accredited degree.
Yes, most of all in elite sport, schools and community wellness programs. Jobs and Skills Australia data shows steady job growth across psychology roles, this one included.
A career in sports psychology can lead to real jobs you'll enjoy. Here are some roles you could pursue.
