We discuss developments in higher education in Australia through the lens of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic upon the provision of education and training in the discipline of psychology. Since its inception in universities after World War II, psychology educators in Australia have continually dealt with different, often conflicting, goals and with different methods and institutions in the regulation, accreditation, and process of the education of psychologists. These include the goals of training in practice, training in science, the administration of organisations and the concepts of profit and 'value' pulling teachers and students in different directions, and in the employment of graduates in multiple roles with different expectations held by the public and government. The impact of COVID-19 since 2020, rapid developments in technology, and the likely continuing changes in the sector that ensue, can be viewed as sources of magnification of the difficulties. Implications are drawn from the case study of psychology in Australia to highlight similarities and differences with psychological education in other countries and serve to illuminate possible futures for higher education in Australia and abroad.