Member obligations and rights
Ethical practice and professionalism are integral values for the New Zealand Speech-language Therapists’ Association and its members. The NZSTA Principles and Rules of Ethics focus members on the core purposes of our practice. All NZSTA members must read, understand and adhere to the NZSTA Principles and Rules of Ethics.
Supervision allows the supervisees to safely discuss and reflect on cases, professional issues, personal development and relevant projects.
The overall aims are to ensure; the development of the supervisee, the professional well-being of the supervisee and the safety of our clients and communities.
The purpose of the CPD Framework is to ensure members maintain and enhance their knowledge and skills.
The CPD Framework provides members with minimum standards and a tool to document their professional development activity against the NZSTA values and demonstrate a commitment to bicultural practice.
Participation in the CPD Framework is a requirement for all Registered Members except for Registered Members with the condition - New Graduate as there is a separate New Graduate Framework to follow.
All Registered Members are required to disclose if any of the following have occurred:
- Offences: Have you ever been convicted of a criminal offence or an offence related to the practice of speech-language therapy?
- Professional Practice: Have you been the subject of a finding of professional misconduct, incompetence or incapacity by your employer or any other body?
- Disciplinary: Have you ever been disciplined or sanctioned, or are there any disciplinary proceedings pending against you before any professional association, professional licensing authority or board, or other professional regulatory body?
- Fitness to Practice: Have you, since your last annual practising certificate was issued, been affected by a mental or physical condition that has the capacity to affect your ability to practise?
Members can complete their annual declaration from the Certificate Tab in their member profile.
Newly qualified speech-language therapists (from an NZSTA-accredited programme or those with qualifications approved by the NZSTA) who wish to become Registered Members of the Association are required to complete the New Graduate Framework requirements.
The period of Registered Member - new graduate is viewed as a transition between supervised student practicum and independent clinical competency within a specific workplace and/or research setting.
Inherent in this experience is:
- integration of application of knowledge gained in academic training
- evaluation of strengths and limitations
- refinement of clinical skills
- development of clinical skills consistent with the scope of professional practice required for the role.
Speech-language therapists eligible for membership of the NZSTA but have not practised for three or more years are required to complete a Return to Practice (RTP) programme to ensure high standards are maintained. The programme is increasingly rigorous as the time since the most recent practice increases.
Student members are expected to abide by the NZSTA Principles Rules of Ethics.
Students do not have any other obligations.
Students do not have voting rights and are not eligible to accept nominations for office.
All Registered and Life Members have voting rights and are eligible to accept nominations for office.
All Associate and Retired Members have voting rights but are not eligible to accept nominations for office.
All Student and All Honorary Members do not have voting rights and are not eligible to accept nominations for office.
All members may speak at an annual general meeting.
Current NZSTA members are able to apply for a change to their membership status via this form.
The following changes can be applied for:
Having a career break? - please update your membership status
Members taking a break from their careers, either to travel, for parental leave, or to work in a different field, may mean they are not eligible for registered membership (see definition below) and may need to update their membership status/details.
Please complete an online change in membership status application form to advise the association of any change to your employment status.
Parental leave:
For those going on parental leave (where you are returning to your same employment - usually within 12 months), please provide the start and end dates of your maternity leave in your change in membership status application form. This will impact your CPD requirements for that period. You remain a registered member with a not working status.
Going travelling or on a career break:
Members leaving their employment as an SLT to travel, enjoy a career break, or take extended parental leave need to apply to become associate members for this period. Associate members are not required to submit CPD, do not hold an annual practising certificate, and are not voting members.
On return to working as an SLT (see definition), please complete another change in membership status application form to apply for a return to being a registered member. Please check for additional information for those thinking of going overseas.
Definition of a registered member:
Every speech-language therapist (SLT) currently engaged in the activities of speech-language therapy as a practitioner, administrator, manager, educator, researcher, or any combination thereof is entitled to become a registered member of the NZSTA.
Please don't hesitate to contact the office if you have any questions or need help determining your correct membership status.
Member categories defined
The following persons are eligible to be or to become Registered Members with the NZSTA:
Every speech-language therapist (SLT) currently engaged in the activities of speech-language therapy as a practitioner, administrator, manager, educator, researcher, or any combination thereof, and:
(a) every speech-language therapist trained in Aotearoa with a Teacher’s Certificate endorsed with qualifications in speech-language therapy or with a Diploma in Speech-language Therapy awarded before 1993;
(b) every speech-language therapist holding a Bachelor of Speech and Language Therapy awarded by the University of Canterbury, Aotearoa before January 2004;
(c) every speech-language therapist holding a Bachelor of Speech-language Therapy or an equivalent bachelor or master's degree from an NZSTA accredited programme;
(d) every speech-language therapist of recognised training whose qualifications are approved by the NZSTA.
The following persons are eligible to be or to become Registered Members with the NZSTA with the Condition – New Graduate:
Every new graduate or newly qualified speech-language therapist holding a Bachelor of speech-language therapy or an equivalent bachelor or master's degree from an NZSTA accredited programme or of recognised training whose qualifications are approved by the NZSTA, currently engaged in their first one/two years (full-time equivalent) activities of speech-language therapy as a practitioner, administrator, manager, educator, researcher, or any combination thereof.
Registered Members - New Graduate, must complete the New Graduate Framework: A Guide for New Graduate Members, their Supervisors and Managers. Upon completing this framework, they can be a Registered Member of the NZSTA.
The following persons are eligible to be or to become Registered Members with the NZSTA with the Condition – not Dysphagia trained:
Every Aotearoa-trained speech-language therapist of recognised training whose qualifications did not include dysphagia education but are approved by the NZSTA.
The following persons are eligible to be or to become Registered Members with the NZSTA with the Condition – Return to Practice:
Every speech-language therapist of recognised training who has not accumulated 1000 hours of speech-language therapy practice within five years immediately before the application for membership and who intends to return to speech-language therapy practice and who is approved by the NZSTA.
Registered Members - Return to Practice must complete the NZSTA Registered Member Return to Practice Framework: A guide to support members returning to the profession. Upon completing this framework, they can be a Registered Member of the NZSTA.
Students who are participating in a clinical speech-language therapy programme and are not yet qualified, speech-language therapists.
The following persons are eligible to be or to become Student Members of the NZSTA:
- persons currently enrolled in an NZSTA accredited speech-language therapy programme to qualify as a speech-language therapist;
- persons enrolled full-time in a speech-language therapy programme accredited by one of the signatory associations of the Mutual Recognition of Professional Credentials Agreement (2022)
The following persons are eligible to be or to become Associate Members of the NZSTA.
Any person who:
- is in an allied field whose application is approved by the NZSTA.
- has trained as an SLT but does not meet the criteria for Registered Membership and whose application is approved by the NZSTA.
Any speech-language therapist who has retired from all speech-language therapy-related activities for which they receive payment.
The Board of the NZSTA may elect to confer the title of Life Member on suitably qualified persons, determined via evidence of outstanding service rendered to the profession of speech-language therapy.
A majority vote of the Board must support applications for life membership.
The Board of the NZSTA may elect to confer the title Honorary Member on persons who do not have a speech-language therapy qualification but who have made an outstanding contribution to the profession of speech-language therapy.
A majority vote of the Board must support applications for honorary membership.
