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Social Workers Registration Act 2003

Scopes of practice for social work profession and prescribed qualifications

5A: Board to determine scopes of practice for social work profession

You could also call this:

"The Board decides what jobs social workers are allowed to do."

Illustration for Social Workers Registration Act 2003

The Board has to describe the services that social workers do. They do this by creating one or more scopes of practice. You can think of a scope of practice like a list of jobs that social workers are trained to do.

The Board can describe these scopes of practice in different ways, such as by using a name that social workers understand, or by referring to an area of social science. They can also describe the tasks that social workers commonly do, or the needs of individuals, groups, or communities that social workers help with.

When the Board creates a notice about scopes of practice, it is a type of law called secondary legislation, which has its own rules for publication, as outlined in Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019.

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This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS165940.

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"The law applies to the government too"

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5B: Prescribed qualifications, or

"What qualifications you need to be a social worker"

Part 1AScopes of practice for social work profession and prescribed qualifications

5ABoard to determine scopes of practice for social work profession

  1. The Board must, by notice, describe the social work services that are performed by the social work profession in 1 or more scopes of practice.

  2. A scope of practice and the services described in it may be described as the Board thinks fit, including in 1 or more of the following ways:

  3. by reference to a name or form of words that is commonly understood by persons who work in the social work services sector:
    1. by reference to an area of social science or learning:
      1. by reference to tasks commonly performed:
        1. by reference to individual, interpersonal, or community needs to be alleviated.

          1. A notice under this section is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

          Notes
          • Section 5A: inserted, on , by section 8 of the Social Workers Registration Legislation Act 2019 (2019 No 3).
          • Section 5A(1): amended, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).
          • Section 5A(3): inserted, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).