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Psychologist is a protected title. Under section 113 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, a person must not knowingly or recklessly take or use a title in the table to that section in a way that could reasonably be expected to induce a belief that the person is registered in that health profession, unless they are registered in it. Psychologist appears in that table. The maximum penalty for an individual is 60,000 Australian dollars or three years imprisonment or both, and 120,000 Australian dollars for a body corporate.

The same section also catches using a protected title in relation to somebody else — so a consultancy that advertises a coach as a psychologist when they are not registered is exposed in its own right. Section 116 separately prohibits a person who is not a registered health practitioner from taking or using that title or holding themselves out in that way.

The Psychology Board of Australia states that psychologists must be registered with the Board and meet its registration standards in order to practise in Australia, with registration and renewal handled through the national agency. Registration status is therefore checkable, and a coach who holds it will say so precisely rather than vaguely.

None of this makes coaching suspect. It makes the description matter: a coach may hold a psychology background and say so accurately if registered, and must not imply it if not.

The commercial reality of executive coaching is that the person receiving the service is not the person paying for it. That tension has to be resolved in writing before the first session, not negotiated after the sponsor asks how it is going.

A workable arrangement is that the content of sessions stays between coach and executive, while themes, attendance and progress against the agreed goals are reportable to the sponsor in a form the executive sees first. Anything that departs from that — the sponsor expecting a candid character assessment, for example — should be surfaced and declined at contracting rather than accommodated quietly.

There is also a limit worth naming. Coaching confidentiality is a contractual promise, not a legal privilege, and a coach who becomes aware of serious risk will act. Say so at the start so it is never a surprise.

Ask what the coach is trained in, who trained them, and whether they receive regular supervision — ongoing supervision of their own practice is a reasonable expectation at this level and a fair question to ask. Ask for professional indemnity insurance details. Ask for two or three references from sponsors of comparable engagements, and actually call them.

Ask how they handle the boundary with clinical issues, and listen for whether they have a referral pathway or an improvised answer. Ask what they will do if the engagement is not working at the halfway point. And ask how they describe themselves in writing: precise language about qualifications is the best available proxy for precise practice.

A mentor lends their own experience and usually comes from the same industry, often unpaid and often internal. A consultant diagnoses a problem and recommends or implements a solution, and owns a deliverable. A coach works on the person's own thinking and choices and owns a process, not an answer. A registered psychologist practises a regulated health profession with protected titles, registration standards and a National Board behind it.

Mixing these up is the most common source of disappointment. An organisation that wants a restructure designed should buy consulting. A leader who wants industry judgement should find a mentor. A person in distress should be referred. Coaching sits with the fourth situation: a capable person facing a genuine leadership problem that is theirs to solve.