[8] In the 1970s, the society spoke out against unsafe driving practices,[9] and submitted in support of changes to the Crimes Amendment Bill in 1974, the first parliamentary attempt at homosexual law reform in New Zealand.
[11] The society was an integral lobbying force in passing the Psychologists Act 1981, which established psychology as a registered profession in New Zealand.
[13] Within the society, a number of divisions exist to promote and foster specific fields of psychology.
[14] As of 2022, there are seven institutes and one special interest group:[15] The society has a two-tier approach to membership and professional regulation: a general-scope registration, followed by a specialist scope registration, in a field such as clinical psychology or educational psychology.
[5] Members of the society are signatories to the Code of Ethics for Psychologists Working in Aotearoa/New Zealand, which was established in 2002 due to the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003.