How to register

On these Registration pages

-Overview

-How to Register: NZ Graduates

-How to Register: Australian APDs

-How to Register: UK Trained and Registered Dietitians

-How to Register: Other Overseas Trained Dietitians

-Certificates

-Appeals

UK Trained and Res UKUK

Overview

(Important - please read this 'Overview' before the other registration information)

Applicants for registration need to complete an application form, pay the fee and provide other requested information as necessary. NB: The Board has increased the Equivalency Assessment fee from 1 December 2011, for applications from Overseas Trained Dietitians (other than those eligible to apply under the UK trained and Registered dietitians policy). The fee for Equivalency Assessment applications received from 1 December 2011 is now $700.00.

Please use the new Payment form.

A Scope of Practice means any health service that forms part of a health profession.

To be registered under the Dietitians Board’s scope of practice, applicants must:

Have a prescribed qualification or equivalent
Be competent to practise in the scope of practice
Be fit for registration.

Applicants who hold and satisfy all the qualifications, competence and fitness for registration requirements of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (HPCA Act) are likely to be eligible to apply for registration under the Dietitians Board’s scope of practice.

This may involve passing an examination or undertaking an assessment and for many overseas trained dietitians it involves an 'equivalency assessment' being undertaken by the Board of their education and training, prior to registration.

The Dietitians Board (in NZ) has gazetted one ‘scope of practice’ i.e. Dietitian.

Dietitians:

‘apply scientific knowledge about food and nutrition to individuals and groups in states of health and disease to promote optimal health outcomes within the social, economic, and cultural context of the New Zealand (NZ) population’.

Limitations may be put on this scope of practice e.g. being limited to working in a clinical domain of practice and/or being under a supervision condition.

The prescribed and gazetted qualifications for Registration as a dietitian in NZ (section 12 (1) of the HPCA Act refers) are:

• Postgraduate Diploma in Dietetics

• Or equivalent qualification and pass in a Board examination or any other assessment set by the Board.

Under the revised entry level competencies, (‘Statement of Registration Competency Requirements, in transition 2010 for full implementation 2011’), all entry level dietitians in NZ (new graduates and those from overseas) are required to be under practice supervision for the first year of practising dietetics in NZ.

Please note that if an entry level dietitian changes supervision and/or positions within the year of supervision, he/she must inform the Board of the new supervisor's name, his/her new work details, and send the Board the signed supervision agreements (section 2 for the old position, section 1 for the new).

All overseas trained applicants for registration must successfully complete the Board's on-line CULTURAL COMPETENCY courses and on-line tests. These are accessed through: http://nzdb.moodle.co.nz/ . You must contact the Registrar for the enrolment key. The booklet that the test is based on is ‘Best Health Outcomes for Maori: Practice Implications’ (please ask the Registrar for a copy).

You must also complete the Mauri Ora modular on-line training "Healthcare and the Treaty of Waitangi" prior to registration. Please contact: info@mauriora.co.nz for details of how to enrol.

Please send both certificates to the Board.

New Graduates

(Please read the 'Overview' information first).

Please ensure you have completed your course of study for the Postgraduate Diploma in Dietetics from the University of Otago, (handed in your practicum) before applying for registration. Read the ‘Information for New Graduates’ sheet before starting the registration process.

An application for registration must contain the following:

A completed and signed 'Application for Registration' form,
The Registration fee. This is non refundable. Please do not send in the Annual Practising Certificate (APC) fee until after you have been registered,
Two references. These must be sent by the referees direct to the Dietitians Board. Please give your referees the relevant page for referees attached at the back of the application form, to guide their referee report. At least one referee must be a tutor or staff member involved with your postgraduate programme.
Correctly certified copy of birth certificate or passport. For registration purposes and as stated on the Registration application form, these must be certified or notarised ‘as a true copy of the original’ by a Justice of the Peace a Solicitor or Notary Public (not by the Police, Post Office or other person). It must be obvious who the certifying person is and a stamp or seal would be appreciated.
Notification from the Head of the Dietetic Training Programme that you have completed all the course requirements of the Postgraduate Diploma in Dietetics will be sent to the Board directly from the University.

(On receipt of your copy of your Postgraduate Diploma of Dietetics, please send a copy to the Board).

FAQ's for New Zealand Graduates

Supervision: Please note that under the revised 'Registration Competency Requirements', practice supervision is compulsory for one year for all entry level dietitians, including new NZ graduates. Please read the 'Information for new graduates' sheet and your registration letter, for details on the supervision notification process.

If you change positions within the year of supervision you MUST advise the Board, get your first supervisor to sign off Section 2, then get your new supervisor to sign Section 1 of the Supervision agreement. Once your year of supervision is up, the onus is on you to please send back signed Section 2 of the Supervision agreement, to the Board.

Australian Accredited Practising Dietitians (APDs)

(Please read the 'Overview' information first)

All overseas trained dietitians wishing to practise as, or be known as, a dietitian in New Zealand must:

Be registered under the HPCA Act for practising within the Scope of Practice prescribed by the Dietitians Board, and
Once registered, hold a current Practising Certificate issued by the Board.

If you are a dietitian with full Accredited Practising Dietitian status (APD) credentialed by the Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA), you will likely be eligible for registration in New Zealand under the ‘Mutual Recognition Voluntary Relationship Charter’.

Read the information regarding the 'Mutual Recognition Voluntary Relationship Charter', and the 'Flow Chart', as well as Handbook 3. Then download the ‘Application form for Australian Dietitians’ and the Fees Payment form (below).

New Zealand registered dietitians with a practising certificate (who have had no conditions on the APC for more than one year), who wish to investigate working in Australia, please follow this link: http://www.daa.asn.au

Please note, that Australian and NZ dietitians working in each other's country, usually only need to participate in one of the two CC programmes.

FAQ's for Australian Dietitians

United Kingdom (UK) Trained and Registered Dietitians

(Please read the 'Overview' information first)

All overseas trained dietitians wishing to practise as, or be known as, a dietitian in New Zealand must:

Be registered under the HPCA Act for practising within the Scope of Practice prescribed by the Dietitians Board, and
Once registered, hold a current Practising Certificate issued by the Board.

If you are an UNITED KINGDOM (UK) trained and registered dietitian and have worked for more than one year in the UK, please ascertain whether you would probably qualify for registration and to work in a clinical area of practice in NZ, with exemption from sitting the Board’s Overseas Candidates Registration Examination (OCRE) under the Board’s criteria:

a. Have completed both their undergraduate and postgraduate nutrition and dietetic training in the United Kingdom, i.e. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
b. Are currently registered and certified with the Health Professions Council (HPC) in the UK
c. Have completed a training course of at least four years in nutrition and dietetics (exceptions may be considered on a case-by-case basis, if the British Dietetic Association (BDA) is able to ratify your education and training as acceptable)
d. Have practised as a dietitian for a minimum of one year in the UK
e. Have practised as a dietitian in the UK within the last 3 years.

If you meet the criteria as above, please read the information in 'Handbook 2'. Then download the ‘Application for Equivalency Assessment’ form and the Fees Payment form (below). Please give your referees the reference guidelines within the application form, and/or the Referee template.

FAQ's for UK Applicants

Other Overseas Trained Dietitians

(Please read the 'Overview' information first)

Any dietitian wishing to practise as, or be known as, a dietitian in New Zealand must:

Be registered under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 for practising within the Scope of Practice prescribed by the Dietitians Board, and
Once registered, hold a current Practising Certificate issued by the Board.

NB: AUSTRALIAN credentialed dietitians who may be eligible for registration in New Zealand under the ‘Mutual Recognition Voluntary Relationship Charter’,

and UNITED KINGDOM (UK) trained and registered dietitians who meet the Board's criteria,

please refer to the sections above.

ALL OTHER OVERSEAS TRAINED DIETITIANS wishing to seek registration in New Zealand, must first read Handbook 1-'Handbook of Information on Registration for Overseas Trained Dietitians Intending to Practise Dietetics in New Zealand' (revised October 2011).

Please note: Equivalency Assessment fees for Overseas Trained dietitians are being increased to $700.00 for applications received at the office from 1 December 2011.

Overseas Trained and Qualified Dietitians must then:

Complete the ‘Application for Equivalency Assessment of Education and Training’ form,
Enclose the application fee by using the 'Fees Payment’ form (below)and
Send these with ALL the completed documentation to the Registrar, Dietitians Board, PO Box 10140, Wellington, New Zealand, in order to initiate the equivalency assessment process.
Please send TWO sets of all your documentation to the Board.
Please do NOT send in original documents, only correctly certified copies. The Board cannot be responsible for sending original documents back to you.

NB: Do not send any documentation until you have all the documents we require.

Please give your referees the referee guidelines within this application form, and/or the Referee template.

If you have any enquiries please email the Registrar at: dietitians@dietitiansboard.org.nz

FAQs for Overseas Applicants

Certificates

If you are registered as a dietitian you may purchase a formal ‘Certificate of Registration’, suitable for framing, at any time, from the Board at a cost of $52.00 incl. GST. This is required for those wishing to work in Australia.

Alternatively you can request a 'Certificate of Good Standing' from the Registrar. The cost is also $52.00 incl. This is useful for prospective employers overseas, particularly in the UK.

New registrants are now sent a ‘Certificate of Registration’ as part of their registration package.

Please use the fees payment form (below).

Appeals

If the Dietitians Board declines your application for registration or for a practising certificate, or includes conditions in your scope of practice with which you do not agree, you have the right to appeal the Board's decision under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003, (Part 5,sections 106 – 113).

Your appeal must be made to the District Court within 20 working days of the Board's decision being communicated to you (or within a further time authorised by a judge).

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