Dietetics, registered and recognised.
Registration and the job interlock here.
Registered by law, with every overseas route ending in provisional registration.
The job and the registration run together here.
All four overseas routes end the same way. You take provisional registration, then twelve months of supervised practice before the Board grants full registration. Provisional registration needs an employer who supports it, so registration is not something you can finish before you have a post.
That reorders the move. The job search and the registration work run alongside each other instead of one after the other. Tell us early and we will plan the order with you rather than leaving you to discover it.
The three requirements and the four routes →
Here you are registered; in Australia you are credentialled.
Dietetics is not Ahpra-registered in Australia. Dietitians Australia runs the Accredited Practising Dietitian credential, and that credential, rather than a government register, is what employers, Medicare arrangements and private health insurers are built around. It does the work of a register without being one.
New Zealand works the other way: statutory registration, a scope of practice, an annual practising certificate, and a supervised practice year inside every overseas route. Neither country is easier than the other. They are different shapes, and they suit different people.
Compare both countries for your situation →
The essentials, in five minutes
Six questions people ask before they decide. Open the ones that matter to you.
Can I work there?Yes, with Dietitians Board registration
Unlike Australia, dietetics in New Zealand is a registered profession. You register with the Dietitians Board, hold a scope of practice and renew an annual practising certificate — the same structure as the imaging and therapy professions here. Three things gate every route: at least four years of nutrition and dietetic training, the Board’s English language requirement, and at least 12 months practising as a dietitian averaging 20 hours a week within the last three years. The Board decides, not us.
Check my pathway →What could I earn?NZ$79,014 to NZ$119,300
Ten steps on the allied pay equity scale, from entry on registration to the top recognition step — the rates payable from the 2026 anniversary in the APEX and Te Whatu Ora dietitians collective agreement. Designated roles sit above it on their own scale. Where you land is set by how your overseas experience is counted, which is the part worth getting right.
How the scale works →Where are the jobs?Hospital, community and public health
Dietitians here work across hospital services, community and primary care, public health and private practice. Whether we have a vacancy advertised today is a different question from whether we recruit the profession — if nothing is listed, send your CV anyway and we will tell you when something fits.
See current roles →What is different here?Registration and the job interlock
All four overseas routes end the same way: provisional registration, then 12 months of supervised practice before full registration. Provisional registration needs an employer who supports it. So the job and the registration are not sequential here — they interlock, and that reorders the whole move.
What that means in practice →Can I bring my family?Yes, most people do
Partners and children can usually join you on visas linked to yours, and partners can usually work. Schools, childcare and the family logistics are explained once, properly, in the family guide.
Family moves, explained →What will moving cost?Budget for real fees
Registration with the Dietitians Board and your first practising certificate, qualification verification, police clearance, visa fees for everyone moving, flights and shipping. Some employers contribute to relocation, some don’t — we get whatever is offered in writing.
The move, costed →Current opportunities
Roles we're recruiting for right now. If nothing is listed for your profession today, that is a vacancy board rather than a door closing — send us your CV and we will tell you the moment something fits.
The detail, when you want it
The three core requirements, the four routes, and what to gather before you apply.
Getting registeredThree core requirements, then one of four routes
Verified 26 August 2026 against dietitiansboard.org.nz
Unlike Australia, dietetics in New Zealand is a registered profession. You register with the Dietitians Board, hold a scope of practice and renew an annual practising certificate.
Three core requirements gate every route. Only once these are met does the question of which pathway you take arise:
- At least four years of undergraduate and/or postgraduate nutrition and dietetic training
- The Board’s English language requirement
- At least 12 months practising as a dietitian, averaging 20 hours a week, within the last three years, in the country where you are registered or credentialled
Then your route. The Board separates its routes by where you have worked as a registered dietitian, not where you qualified. Dietitians registered in the United Kingdom or South Africa come through the Straight to Registration pathway. Those registered in Ireland or Canada come through Straight to Examinations. Everyone else has their qualification recognised first, which may mean a multi-choice examination and an OSCE.
The Board’s guidance for overseas-trained dietitians
We are not the regulator. Read their page, then let us help you work through it.
The sequence
- Check the three core requirements first — training length, English, and 12 months of recent practice
- Submit an eligibility application so the Board confirms which route you are on
- Complete what your route requires — recognition of qualifications, a multi-choice examination, an OSCE, or none of these
- Secure a role: provisional registration needs an employer who supports it
- Complete 12 months of supervised practice, then apply for full registration
What to gather now
- Certified copies of your qualifications and transcripts
- Evidence of your recent practice hours, by date
- A certificate of good standing from every authority you have registered with
- A police / criminal-history check
- Proof of identity, plus any name-change documents
- English-language evidence, if required
One scale, six professions
Rates payable from the 2026 anniversary in the APEX and Te Whatu Ora dietitians collective agreement. Published by APEX and by Health New Zealand · Te Whatu Ora.
Open the dietetics, social work, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, radiation therapy and anaesthetic technology agreements side by side and you find the same ten steps, to the dollar. That is the allied pay equity settlement: your step sets your salary, not your profession.
Steps 1 to 7 are automatic, one a year on your anniversary date. Step 8 depends on objectives agreed with your manager when you reach step 7. Steps 9 and 10 are recognition steps. Designated roles — team leader, section head, professional advisor — sit above this on a separate six-grade scale.
Where you land on this ladder is what sets your salary, and it is set by how your overseas experience is counted. That is worth getting right rather than accepting.
What we can’t promise
Three things we won’t guarantee, and what we do instead.
Timelines that aren’t ours to give
Registration sits with the Dietitians Board and visas with Immigration New Zealand. We’ll give you the likely range, keep your file complete and moving, and chase what can be chased — but we won’t quote a faster number just to win you over.
A specific job in a specific suburb
Vacancies move. If your heart is set on one workplace in one corner of one city, we’ll tell you plainly how long that wait could be — before you resign anything, not after.
That the move is right for you
Some moves shouldn’t happen. If the scope, the pay maths or the family logistics don’t stack up, we’ll say so plainly.
Frequently asked
Do I need a job before I can register?
Effectively, yes — for the final stage. Every overseas route ends in provisional registration followed by twelve months of supervised practice, and provisional registration needs an employer who supports it. You can do the eligibility application, the qualification recognition and any examinations before you have a post. You cannot complete registration without one.
That is why it pays to start early. Sequenced the right way round, the waiting happens in parallel instead of one thing after another.
I trained somewhere other than the UK, South Africa, Ireland or Canada. Is that a problem?
No, it is a different route rather than a closed door. The Board splits its pathways by where you have worked as a registered dietitian rather than where you qualified. If your country is not on the named lists, your qualification is recognised first, and that may mean a multi-choice examination and an OSCE.
The three core requirements are the same whichever route you are on, so they are the right place to start.
Does my practice have to be full time to count?
No. The Board asks for at least 12 months practising as a dietitian averaging 20 hours a week, within the last three years, in the country where you are registered or credentialled. Part-time practice counts as long as it meets that average.
Evidence of hours by date is one of the things worth collecting before you apply, not after you are asked for it.
You have no dietetics vacancy listed. Does that mean you don’t place dietitians?
No. A vacancy board shows what is advertised this week, not what we recruit. Send us your CV and tell us what you are looking for, and we will come back to you when something fits — and in the meantime you can use the guides and the plan to keep the move moving.
Will my pay be different from a social worker’s?
On the Health New Zealand scale, no. Dietetics, social work, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, radiation therapy and anaesthetic technology share the same ten steps to the dollar under the allied pay equity settlement. Your step sets your salary, not your profession.
Which step you start on is negotiable and depends on how your overseas experience is counted. That is the number worth arguing about.
What would you do with time to practise properly?
Relocating to a new country can feel overwhelming at times, and you won’t be doing it on your own. Find your registration pathway in two minutes, then send us your CV and we’ll take it from there.