Why should I join the Australian Educational and Developmental Psychology Association?

The AEDPA represents registered psychologists in Australia with advanced training and qualifications in educational and developmental psychology; concerned with optimising the learning, development, and wellbeing of individuals, groups, and organisations across the lifespan. 

The AEDPA is uniquely positioned in the Australian landscape of professional psychology organisations as the only membership body solely focussed on Educational and Developmental Psychologists.  While the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and the Australian Association of Psychologists Inc. (AAPi) provide broad support for all psychologists, AEDPA specifically targets advocacy, professional development, and public promotion of evidence-based information, on behalf of Educational and Developmental Psychologists.

We will be addressing gaps by focusing on the unique needs of our endorsement and the Australian public, creating a robust network championing policies, practices, and educational resources that uniquely serve professionals, organisations, government, families, individuals and communities. Our initial goals relate to the increased recognition of Educational and Developmental Psychologists in Medicare, the National Disability Insurance Agency/Scheme (NDIA/S) and other mainstream funding models for disability, learning, wellbeing, and mental health.

By joining the AEDPA you are taking the opportunity to actively collaborate with passionate colleagues, build awareness, resources, and advocate for the growing need of robustly trained, progressive, Educational and Developmental Psychologists in Australia. 

Why does Educational and Developmental Psychology require advocacy?

Educational and Developmental Psychology as a field necessitates strong advocacy to highlight its critical role in facilitating the lifelong learning, health and well-being of individuals and communities. It is an Area of Practice that often flies under the radar, but its contribution to improving educational outcomes and promoting healthy development across the lifespan is undeniable.

Advocacy helps ensure equitable resource allocation, policy support, and recognition for this skill set within broader psychological and educational contexts. There are clear inequalities in the way the Australian Government, Universities, other private and public bodies allocate funding, with a clear lack of recognition of the training of Educational and Developmental Psychologists.

What is the AEDPA's projected budget for the 2023-2024 period?

Item	Expense
Legal/Accounting	$5,220
Tech Stack	$2,385
Liability Insurance	$2,300
Formation Costs	$2,176
Total	$9,905

What are the AEDPA’s main guiding principles?

Advocacy

The Australian Educational and Developmental Psychology Association (AEDPA) is committed to advocating for increased recognition of its profession within Medicare, the National Disability Insurance Scheme, and other mainstream funding models for disability, learning, wellbeing, and mental health. This includes educating the public and government about the diversity of Area of Practice Endorsements within psychology; highlighting the specific skills and knowledge of Educational and Developmental Psychologists.

Equity

The AEDPA seeks to address inequalities in the way Educational and Developmental Psychologists are recognised and funded in Australia. This includes addressing inequalities that affect all psychologists within the Medicare Benefit Scheme and National Disability Insurance Scheme. It also extends to the underrepresentation of postgraduate training programs across Australia in Educational and Developmental Psychology.

Collaboration

The AEDPA encourages collaboration among stakeholders, including professionals, organisations, government, families, individuals, and communities, to better serve the needs of those requiring their services. This includes working with existing psychology professional bodies where there are synergies.

Who is behind the AEDPA?

The AEPDA is a non-profit membership organisation started by three passionate Educational and Developmental Psychologists with experience across a variety of organisational and professional sectors.  The AEDPA has been a labour of love that has taken almost two years to coordinate.  

Simone Gindidis PhD

Dr Simone Gindidis (she/her) is an Educational and Developmental Psychologist, Board Approved Supervisor, Director of SavvyPsych, GameIQ, and AEDPA.  She has experience across a myriad of settings including private practice, non-profit community language schools, as a university lecturer and research supervisor in postgraduate psychology and counselling programs, Clinical Lead in an Australian-based international digital therapeutics company, and most recently as one of the authors of a one-of-a kind text titled, ‘How to be an Educational and Developmental Psychologist: From University Applications to Entering the Workforce’.  She is passionate about the ecologically valid, robust and sustainable integration of technology with psychology assessment and practice.

Simone’s reason for studying Educational and Developmental Psychology stems from a thought-provoking conversation held during a postgraduate psychology programme interview: 

“I was challenged by the Course Leader at the time who made me realise that Ed&Dev is more than just schools and working with kids. Before that, it wasn’t even on my radar due to the incessant, pervasive, and misguided messaging from undergraduate university lecturers and tutors who openly and repeatedly advised there was only one AoPE and course “worth” pursuing if I wanted the flexibility to work anywhere… another reason why advocacy through the AEDPA has become so necessary in today’s day and age” 

Simone’s motivation for collaborating with co-founders and directors Kate Crosher and Dr Jake Kraska to start the AEDPA? 

“To build a community of E&Ds who unapologetically, actively collaborate and contribute to the recognition, growth, improvement, and celebration of our AoPE to the benefit of all Australians”.

Kate Crosher

Kate Crosher (she/her) is an Educational and Developmental Psychologist, Board Approved Supervisor, Director of Enfys Psychology and AEDPA.  Her psychology career spans over 15 years in government and state schools, including being a Professional Practice Leader for the Department of Education.  Kate is a Circle of Security Parenting and Classroom Facilitator who has worked across university and tertiary institutions as a Senior Lecturer and Supervisor in postgraduate psychology programs. She has supervised and nurtured psychologists-in-training for many years and is passionate about promoting their personal and professional growth. 

Her reason for studying Educational and Developmental Psychology can be traced back to high school, where at 16 years old she visited a vocational psychologist who suggested she would make a great psychologist:

“I changed schools to study VCE Psych (it didn’t exist in all schools back then!) and I realised I loved learning about how people worked. I’ve never stopped enjoying it”.

 Kate’s focus on Educational and Developmental Psychology evolved during this time, where she connected with“wanting to work with children and young people in schools, to work with the system around them to help them achieve to their potential”.

Kate’s motivation for collaborating with co-founders and directors Dr Jake Kraska and Dr Simone Gindidis to start the AEDPA is unequivocally shared by her colleagues:

“AEDPA started with an idea to work alongside our current professional organisations to advocate specifically for Ed&Dev psychology. To ensure the community has access and understanding of what we can offer and to ensure the needs and goals of Educational & Developmental Psychologists are highlighted and explicitly advocated for without the limitations that come in larger organisations".

Jake Kraska PhD

Dr Jake Kraska (he/him) is an Educational and Developmental Psychologist, Director of Level Up Psychology, GameIQ and AEDPA. He has also held positions as a Senior Lecturer, Supervisor, Research Supervisor, and Teaching Associate at no less than two leading tertiary institutions.  In addition to leading his own team of ten psychologists at Level Up Psychology, Jake has experience working across school, community and private practice settings where he often lead multidisciplinary or wellbeing teams.  Jake is a talented researcher and gaming enthusiast whose PhD thesis focused on the use of computer adaptive testing to measure cognitive ability.  It’s safe to assume he enjoys psychological assessment…a lot!

Jake chose to pursue a career in psychology with an initial focus on organisational psychology, “I started towards the organisational psychology pathway with a Bachelor of Psychology and Business and in fourth year fell in love with psychological assessment”.  When asked how the move to Educational and Developmental Psychology came about, Jake advised:

“I enjoyed psychological assessment and helping young people understand their own strengths and challenges as a form of celebrating the diversity of being human”.  

 For those who know Jake, it comes as no surprise that his insightful and passionate motivation for starting the AEDPA and collaborating with co-founders and directors Dr Simone Gindidis and Kate Crosher is explained directly, and succinctly:

 “Advocacy. Advocacy. Advocacy”.