The new IFS L1 Admissions Criteria for Australia and New Zealand in 2025 have been finalised. The IFS Institute announced a new admissions criteria for US IFS L1 trainings in January 2024, with similar changes to be made internationally a year later. In each of the international partner’s regions, this allowed us time to consider the implications for our community and to look at what would align with IFS Institutes’ criteria and make sense for us in ANZ.

We did extensive research and spent many hours thinking about the best way forward, knowing that the field of counselling and psychotherapy is currently variously regulated according to profession in our region. We considered guidance from various Counselling/Psychotherapy Professional Bodies and Professional Standards across ANZ. As well as this, we kept in mind the IFS Institute’s guidance points below:

• IFS trainings are primarily designed to provide continuing education and practice in using the IFS model for established mental health care professionals. IFS training is not primary education for entry into the mental health profession and therefore does not provide the foundation necessary to provide mental health care.
• As a continuing education and training organization, the IFS Institute is not a licensing, accrediting, or registering body for professionals. Our shift in the IFSI L1 admissions policy is intended to create clarity around those boundaries and best support patients and clients that may be accessing services provided by the professionals we train.
• The IFS model taught in the existing IFS Level 1, 2, 3 Training curriculum offering is an evidence-based modality of psychotherapy intended to both broaden and deepen the scope of practice of mental health professionals. It is NOT primary training for entry into the mental health profession and therefore does not provide the training necessary to provide comprehensive mental health care.

The IFS L1 admissions criteria for Australia, and (separately) for New Zealand, links at the end of this post and on the home page of our website, will mean that not everyone who would have previously been admitted to IFS L1 training previously will now meet the new criteria. We regret any negative impact on anyone affected in this way. We hope the new programs IFS Institute are developing will fill this gap as soon as possible and provide relevant and appropriate levels of training for the range of much-needed professions in the region that focus on health and wellbeing.

Please take the time to read the attached document outlining the new IFS L1 admissions criteria for our region. These will be reviewed annually. If you would like to comment on the new ANZ L1 Admission Criteria then we would welcome your feedback and hope to remain in ongoing dialogue with the community as things change in the future. Please click here to ask any questions you have and provide any feedback you would like to make.

This change will not affect anyone who is currently booked on an IFS L1 training in 2025 or has an application for an IFS L1 training already submitted to IFS ANZ for consideration. We will apply this criteria to ANZ L1 trainings that open for booking after 1st January 2025. Up to this point, our existing ANZ L1 criteria will apply. The first ANZ training to use this admissions criteria will be L1-15. Anyone already with an IFS L1 completion certificate will be able to proceed to L2 and L3 training.

To view the Australian admissions policy, click here.

To view the New Zealand admissions policy, click here.

Warm wishes

Simon d’Orsogna MA
IFS Institute’s International Partner for Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand
Mind Beyond Institute & IFS Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand
Melbourne, Australia