When Professor Anna Chur-Hansen invited Ted Nettelbeck and me to edit a book on the history of the University of Adelaide School of Psychology (formerly the Department of Psychology) in 2014, we were delighted and we both agreed. Since then, we have discussed the project further and agreed that it would be a good idea to broaden the scope so as to include the history of the Schools of Psychology at the other two universities in South Australia: Flinders University and the University of South Australia (UniSA). This involved inviting other people to contribute, and we have been fortunate to obtain the agreement of Professor Malcolm Jeeves, the foundation professor of Psychology at Adelaide, Professor Norm Feather, the foundation professor of Psychology at Flinders, and Professor Jacques Metzer, the founder of the school at UniSA. In addition, the three current heads of school — Professor Anna Chur-Hansen (Adelaide), Professor Tracey Wade (Flinders) and Professor Kurt Lushington (UniSA) — have agreed to assume overall responsibility for their respective chapters. Consequently, rather than assume the roles of authors, Ted Nettelbeck and I have agreed to be co-editors.

South Australia is fortunate in having three university schools of psychology that are all strong in research. The most recent Excellence in Research [ERA] ratings by the Australian Research Council awarded 4 (out of 5) to all three, indicating that their research is better than world-class.

Psychology has been defined as ‘the study of mind and behaviour’, but it is a profession as well as an academic discipline. As an academic discipline, there are various branches of the discipline, including experimental psychology, social psychology, physiological psychology, and abnormal psychology. Since the introduction of the Psychological Practices Act in 1973, there has been an increased focus on the professional training of psychologists along with increased regulation of the profession. The regulation of the profession has involved the Psychological Board of South Australia, since replaced by the Psychological Board of Australia [PBA], the Australian Psychological Society [APS], the Heads of Departments and Schools of Psychology Association [HODSPA] and the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council [APAC], established in 2009.