He ara pūkenga, he ara tauwhiro, hei whakamana mātā waka
The many pathways of knowledge, the many pathways of social work, upholding the dignity of all

In this Onboard: 

• Have your say on the review of the Act 
• Social Worker Workforce Strategy
• Continuing professional development
• Education fees consultation opens this month
• See you at the SSPA Whakamanawa Conference, Rotorua

Tēnā koutou, 

Recent weeks have been studded with valuable opportunities to listen and hear from the sector – through online hui, written submissions, and meetings of our Kāhui Ringa Rehe and our External Advisory Group which brings together practitioners and government and non-government agencies. We’ve learnt a lot. 

The Zoom hui introducing the draft Social Worker Workforce Strategy and Action Plan, and the review of the Social Workers Registration Act 2003, generated rich discussion and participation. Special thanks to Belinda Himiona of Te Pai Ora SSPA and Nathan Chong-Nee of ANZASW for their contributions to the July sessions. 

Your feedback continues to shape both initiatives. Responding to concerns about timeframes raised during the Social Worker Workforce Strategy consultations, the closing date for submissions has been extended to 19 September. This edition of Onboard contains further details, including information about the final hui on the Act 2003 review scheduled for 27 August. 

Ngā manaakitanga, 
Sarah Clark 
Chief Executive 

Have your say on the review of the Act  

Every five years, the SWRB is required to review the operation of the Social Workers Registration Act 2003 (the Act) to ensure it is still fit for purpose. It’s been over twenty years since the Act came into effect – although mandatory registration only arrived four years ago. 

We have been talking with social workers, employers, those involved in social work education and organisations who represent consumer voices. Some of the areas we are exploring are: 

• Making regulation timelier and more responsive. For example, whether we can use early resolution or lighter regulatory tools for lower-risk complaints 
• Strengthening support for social workers, particularly those new to the profession 
• Making sure the profession reflects the diversity of the communities, whānau, and tamariki that they work with 
• Reviewing language of the Act through a disability lens. 

We want to hear from you – your insights will help shape our report. 

Upcoming and past review of the Act hui 

Join our online hui on Wednesday, 27 August, 12–1pm (Zoom link)

Watch a recording of the 6 August hui (YouTube link)

Submit your feedback online

Respond to our review of the Act (SurveyMonkey link)

Email us your feedback at submissions@swrb.govt.nz

More details about all upcoming engagement events are available on our website. In addition to these hui, you are invited to provide feedback through the online feedback forms provided on the web pages for this mahi. We’ll be keeping you informed about what we have heard through this engagement. We will provide updates on our website and in Onboard as well as when we have opportunities to meet kanohi ki te kanohi.

Read more about the Review of the Social Workers Registration Act

Sustainable Social Work Pathways | Tauwhiro Ararau – Social Worker Workforce Strategy

We’re developing Aotearoa New Zealand’s first cross-system Social Worker Workforce Strategy: Sustainable Social Work Pathways | Tauwhiro Ararau. This strategy is needed to address the sustainability challenges facing the profession. This isn’t something any one organisation can do alone – it requires all of us working together.

More information about the strategy, along with draft resources, is available on our website.

Read about Sustainable Social Work Pathways | Tauwhiro Ararau

Your voice matters in workforce planning

We have already hosted two online hui with invited guests from the Social Service Providers Te Pai Ora o Aotearoa (SSPA) and ANZASW. We really appreciate the large number of attendees and great engagement with lots of questions. If you missed these hui, you can watch the recordings on YouTube:

Watch the 23 July hui with SSPA CEO Belinda Himiona (YouTube link)

Watch the 30 July hui with ANZASW CEO Nathan Chong-Nee (YouTube link)

Tell us what you think about Sustainable Social Work Pathways | Tauwhiro Ararau and what else might be needed. We’ve extended the feedback period to give you more time to provide thoughtful responses. Please submit your feedback by 19 September so we can consider your insights in our ongoing work.

Fill out our feedback form on Sustainable Social Work Pathways | Tauwhiro Ararau (SurveyMonkey link)

Email us your feedback at workforce@swrb.govt.nz

Look out for regular updates on the SWRB website including more information and FAQs.

Continuing professional development

Auditing social workers’ CPD logs

Continuing professional development (CPD) is an essential part of social workers keeping their practice current and their legal obligation to the profession.

We will soon be starting our audit of social workers’ CPD logs for the 2024/25 practising year. This audit helps to ensure CPD requirements are being met, and it also provides insights into the types of professional development activities undertaken by social workers.

Each year, we select 5% of all social workers to audit their CPD logs for the previous practising year. This group is randomly selected to ensure they are representative of the public Register. Social workers who were part of the 5% audit group last year who did not submit a log for the previous practising year are also automatically included in the audit.

Your CPD requirements

You need to:

• enter your CPD in MySWRB
• complete at least 20 hours of CPD each year
• link your activities to the ten Core Competence Standards
• include at least one activity that supports your competence to work with Māori.

If you need help entering your CPD logs in MySWRB, there are written and video guides available on the SWRB website to assist you.

Read or watch our guides to entering CPD logs in MySWRB

Last year, we selected 455 practising social workers for the CPD audit of the 2023/24 practising year. This was approximately 5% of all practising, registered social workers and was a representative sample of the Register.

Alongside the CPD audit, we asked social workers to evaluate their experience of logging CPD. Most people who responded found the process to be simple, fast, and user-friendly. They said the process for logging their activity was easier and less stressful than in previous years. Based on feedback from social workers, you are not required to write reflections when logging CPD. While we still encourage you to write these reflections, they are optional.

Education fees consultation opens soon

For those of you following our work in education, you’ll know that the Board have revised the Education Standards and how we provide quality assurance through regular monitoring. Our thanks again to everyone who has engaged with the new framework – your feedback has been incorporated into our approach. The new Standards take effect from January 2026.

With this work complete, we’re now updating how fees are set for tertiary institutions who deliver social work programmes. We have been signalling this work for some time, responding to requests from the sector for greater clarity on fees setting.

The consultation is due to open in early September 2025. This consultation does not affect fees paid by social workers or social work students.

Details will be published on our website soon, including information on online hui to discuss the consultation materials and answer questions. Anyone may respond – we welcome your input.

Read more about the Education Standards

See you at the 2025 Whakamanawa Conference in Rotorua

We will have a stand at Whakamanawa 2025 – The National Social Services Conference in Rotorua on 10 and 11 September. Pop over and say hello! We would love to have a chat with you about things to know when about hiring a social worker, the review of the Social Workers Registration Act 2003, and Sustainable Social Work Pathways | Tauwhiro Ararau and the related action plan.

New office address

We have moved offices. Our new office address is Level 3, 117 Lambton Quay, Wellington. Our mailing address is still PO Box 3452, Wellington 6140.