Social work, protected by law.
Registration gates the job, not the other way round.
New Zealand protects both the title and the practice.
Social work here runs across health, statutory and community services.
Social workers here work across hospital and mental health teams, statutory child protection, iwi and community providers, and non-government services.
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 →
New Zealand registers social workers by law. Australia does not.
Here, registration sits with the Social Workers Registration Board. It comes with a scope of practice, and it is renewed each year with a practising certificate.
Australia has no national register for social work. The Australian Association of Social Workers sets the standard, and eligibility for membership is what employers and funding bodies use in its place. Neither system is easier than the other; they are built differently.
Compare both countries →
The essentials, in five minutes
Four questions people ask before they decide. Open the ones that matter to you.
Can I work there?Only once you are registered
New Zealand protects both the title and the practice. Registration with the Social Workers Registration Board is mandatory for anyone practising as a social worker — you cannot take a role and sort the paperwork afterwards. That makes registration the first item in your sequence rather than a formality near the end. 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 social workers 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 →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 Social Workers Registration 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
Registration, what it gates, and how the move sequences around it.
Getting registeredMandatory, and it gates the job
Mandatory registration confirmed against swrb.govt.nz, August 2026. The Board’s detailed criteria for overseas-qualified applicants change; read them on its own site before you act, and we will go through them with you.
New Zealand is stricter than Australia here, and it is the difference that reorders everything else: social work is a protected profession, and registration with the Social Workers Registration Board is mandatory for anyone practising as a social worker.
Overseas qualifications are assessed individually against the New Zealand standard, and registration carries an annual practising certificate alongside it. Because registration gates the job rather than following it, this is the first step in the sequence and not the last.
That single sentence is why social work moves need planning further ahead than most. An employer cannot hold a post open indefinitely, and you cannot begin on a promise. Tell us early and we will sequence the registration, the offer and the visa together rather than one behind the other.
The Board’s own requirements
We are not the regulator. Read their guidance for overseas-qualified social workers, then let us help you work through it.
What to gather now
- Certified copies of your social work qualification and transcripts
- A certificate of good standing from every authority you have registered with
- Evidence of your practice history, by date and setting
- A police / criminal-history check
- Proof of identity, plus any name-change documents
- English-language evidence, if required
Why the order matters
In most professions on this site you can hold an offer while registration finishes. Not here. Start the Board’s process before you start applying, and treat any role you are offered as contingent on it — because it is.
One scale, six professions
Rates payable from the 2026 anniversary in the APEX and Te Whatu Ora social workers collective agreement. Published by APEX and by Health New Zealand · Te Whatu Ora.
Open the social work, dietetics, 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 Social Workers Registration 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
Can I start work while my registration is being processed?
No. Social work is a protected profession in New Zealand: registration with the Social Workers Registration Board is required to practise, full stop. There is no provisional arrangement that lets you begin and finish the paperwork later.
It is the single most important thing to understand about moving here as a social worker, and it is why you should start months ahead, not weeks.
Will my overseas qualification be recognised?
It is assessed individually against the New Zealand standard rather than sorted by country, so there is no list to check yourself against. The Board publishes what it wants to see, and that is the place to start.
The pathway checker shows how your qualification and practice history are likely to read before you pay anything.
Is it the same in Australia?
No, and the difference is structural. Australia has no national register for social work. The Australian Association of Social Workers sets the professional standard and eligibility for its membership is what employers and funding bodies use instead. That same assessment usually serves skilled migration, which is why it is worth starting first if Australia is your destination.
New Zealand registers you by law. If you are weighing both, that is the difference to weigh.
You have no social work vacancy listed. Does that mean you don’t place social workers?
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 an occupational therapist’s?
On the Health New Zealand scale, no. Social work, dietetics, 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 a caseload you can work 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.