In this Onboard:

• Koha for CPD – celebrating Social Workers’ Day
• Whakamanawa Conference
• CPD audit 2025
• Education fees consultation now open
• Feedback survey on Sustainable Social Work Pathways | Tauwhiro Ararau –  draft social worker workforce strategy closing soon
• Review of the Act feedback welcome
• SWRB team visits Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT)
• Shannon Pakura, finalist for spirit of service award.

He tauwhiro ara rau, he tauwhiro o te whakaaro nui, tēnā tātou katoa!

On this Aotearoa New Zealand Social Workers’ Day, we celebrate social workers and the incredible mahi you do for whānau and communities every day.

We also acknowledge the importance of this week for our country – Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. Ake ake ake!

Boost your professional development with SWRB’s Aotearoa New Zealand Social Workers’ Day koha

In recognition of Aotearoa New Zealand Social Workers’ Day and Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, we are offering support to up to four individuals or teams for their professional development.

We are offering four amounts of $250 towards training or development that addresses core competence standard one: competence to practise social work with Māori.

Let us know how you would use this koha for yourself or your team to address this competency – for example how it may be used to extend your knowledge or depth of understanding of te Tiriti o Waitangi, te reo Māori or tikanga Māori, could contribute to attending a workshop or help secure an inspiring guest speaker?

Email us your nomination to be considered. We will draw four nominations to receive the award.

Please supply the following information in your nomination:

• Name(s) of the individuals or team who will benefit from the award
  • For team nominations, please confirm details of a lead contact for communication about the award.
• Details of how you would use the award to support professional development  
• Details of how the development opportunity supports competence to work with Māori
• Provisional dates for use of the award if known (for example if you were already planning workshops that this award would contribute to).

Criteria:

• Individuals must be registered social workers with a current practising certificate.
• Teams must have a lead contact who is a registered social worker with a current practising certificate.
• The nomination must demonstrate connection with addressing core competence one.

Please submit your nomination by email to comms@swrb.govt.nz before 5pm on Wednesday, 8 October 2025.

All nominations that meet the above criteria will be entered into the draw. We will draw four nominations at random. We expect to let you know if you have been successful in your nomination by Friday 17 October.

Pātai? Email comms@swrb.govt.nz

SSPA Whakamanawa Conference

It was an honour to attend the Social Service Providers Te Pai Ora o Aotearoa (SSPA) Whakamanawa Conference in Rotorua last week. We hosted a workshop on the Thursday afternoon and were delighted to have a packed audience of over 60 attendees. It was exciting to engage in some lively discussions about sustainable workforce planning.

CPD audit 2025 – Zoom hui

Each year, we select 5% of all social workers to audit their continuing professional development (CPD) logs for the previous 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.

We will begin this year’s audit in early October. If you have any questions about recording your CPD logs in MySWRB, you can read or watch the tutorial on the CPD page of our website.

Te Kawenga Tonu o ngā Whanaketanga Ngaio | Continuing Professional Development

Join one of our Zoom hui to find out more. We will be sharing findings from previous audits, explaining how to record your CPD log and answering your questions. The hui are open to all, whether you have been selected for the audit or not.

• 1–2pm, Thursday, 2 October
• 12–1pm, Thursday 9 October

Join the CPD Zoom hui (same Zoom link for both hui).

Education fees consultation now open

The Social Workers Registration Board (SWRB) is consulting on changes to the education fees charged to tertiary education organisations (TEOs) for the regulation of social work programmes in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The proposed changes include restructuring the fees model. With the introduction of new education standards from 2026, we will be making changes to the way we prescribe and monitor social work qualifications. The consultation document describes how the proposed fees align with that new approach.

The consultation process is supported by:

• online hui with opportunities to ask questions
• a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document
• education fees scenarios that indicate what a TEO may expect to pay across a four year period.

The consultation will be open until Friday 17 October and we welcome your feedback.

Details of the consultation, hui and links to all supporting material including the consultation document and online feedback form are available on our website.

Consultation on education fees 2025

Feedback survey on Sustainable Social Work Pathways | Tauwhiro Ararau closing soon

Ngā mihi nui to everyone who has contributed their thoughts on Sustainable Social Work Pathways | Tauwhiro Ararau – draft social worker workforce strategy and action plan. We have been impressed by the richness of kōrero about the strategy, including submissions from ANZASW and TWSWA and through engagement sessions like our SSPA Whakamanawa workshop last week.

If you would still like to provide feedback, it’s not too late! We will be closing the feedback survey at the end of the week: Friday 19 September. You can find out more by watching one of the webinar recordings and reading the documents shared on our website.

Developing the Social Worker Workforce Strategy and Action Plan 2025-2030

You can also email us at workforce@swrb.govt.nz.

Review of the Act feedback welcome

We are continuing with our review of the Social Workers Registration Act 2003 (the Act). Every five years, we are required to review the operation of the Act to ensure it is still fit for purpose. This is the first review since mandatory registration was introduced in 2021, making it an important opportunity to check it’s doing what it was designed to do – both now and into the future.

We want to hear from you to help shape the advice we provide to the Minister for Social Development and Employment on the operation of the Act. This includes listening to social workers, employers, educators, students, and those who use social work services.

Please submit your feedback by Tuesday 30 September for it to be considered as we draft the report for the Minister. You can complete an online feedback form or email us at submissions@swrb.govt.nz.

Have your say on the review of the Social Workers Registration Act 2003

Thank you to the many individuals and groups who have responded to us so far.

SWRB team visits Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT)

The SWRB team visited NMIT for their social work programme review in August. They met with the programme teaching team, the executive leadership team, industry stakeholders, ākonga and other staff involved with the programme for the review. It was an opportunity to hear about all aspects of programme delivery as well as the field education components of the course.

It was a historic occasion as this was the last time a social work programme was reviewed under the Programme Recognition Standards. From 2026, qualifications will be reviewed against the new Education Standards.

The visit was a great opportunity to meet kanohi ki te kanohi. We thank Sarah Fraser and the team for their manaaki and hospitality.

From left: Natasha Emery (SWRB); Dr Sarah Fraser, Academic Coordinator and Principal Academic Staff Member; Dr Annie Fay, Senior Academic Staff Member; Lynn Bruning, PGCERT PS Coordinator and Senior Academic Staff Member; Emz Schwass, Academic Staff Member; Lisa Gant, Academic Coordinator and Senior Academic Staff Member; Dr Carole Adamson, NZQA Monitor; and Dr Andrew Thompson (SWRB).

Finalist for Spirit of Service Awards