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The two core courses for osteopaths
Osteopathy is mostly private, mostly one-to-one, and relies on touch, often in a quiet room with a health consumer who is partly undressed. Much of it is funded by ACC. Those features shape the ethical and professional risks, and our two core courses address them from different angles.
Ethics for osteopaths: thinking it through
The ethics course covers values, reasoning and dilemmas. When does an extra session stop being in the consumer's interest? How do you respond to a consumer who wants a treatment you do not think will help? What do you do when a friend asks to be treated, or when a consumer offers a generous gift? How do you talk about limited evidence for a technique honestly without undermining trust? You learn a method for weighing respect, wellbeing, honesty and fairness, then apply it to cases drawn from New Zealand practice.
Professional standards for osteopaths: doing it properly
The professionalism course works through the Code of Conduct as a practical checklist: consent before and during treatment, explaining what you will touch and why, draping, records that meet the Council's record-keeping guidelines, advertising rules, declaring interests, appropriate charging, working within your capabilities and scope, and accountability when a consumer is unhappy.
The eight principles of the Code of Conduct
The Code of Conduct for Osteopaths (September 2020) is built on eight principles, each with numbered standards and guidance. It replaced the Council's 2015 Code of Ethics. The table shows how our courses cover each principle.
| Principle | Examples of what the standards ask | Our course |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Respect the dignity and individuality of health consumers | Privacy while undressing, respectful language | Ethics core |
| 2. Respect the cultural needs and values of health consumers | Partnership with Māori consumers and whānau, addressing inequities, reflecting on your own culture | Cultural safety and health equity |
| 3. Work in partnership with health consumers | Involving consumers in decisions about their care | Informed consent; communication |
| 4. Maintain trust by providing safe and competent care | Clear, accurate records (standard 4.7), safe practice within competence | Professional standards core; documentation |
| 5. Respect privacy and confidentiality | Consent before disclosure (5.3), secure storage (5.4) | Privacy and confidentiality |
| 6. Work respectfully with colleagues | Referral, teamwork, respectful conduct | Teamwork |
| 7. Act with integrity | No personal benefit from your position, limits on gifts, no loans or bequests (7.5–7.9), declaring interests (7.11), lawful advertising (7.12), boundaries (7.15), no sexual relationships (7.16) | Both core courses; boundaries; probity |
| 8. Maintain public trust and confidence | Appropriate charging, particularly to third-party payers (8.7) | Financial integrity |
Two points stand out. Standard 7.16 prohibits sexual or intimate relationships with consumers in your care or people close to them, and the guidance says relationships with former consumers are inappropriate in most circumstances, with consent no defence. Standard 8.7 on charging third-party payers matters because so much osteopathic care is ACC-funded. Read the full Code on the Council's policies and guidelines page.
How the courses fit the Council's continuing competence programme
The Council's continuing competence programme (published April 2021) runs over two-year cycles. It asks for at least 50 points per cycle, where one point equals one hour of learning, with at least 10 hours in each year and learning spread fairly evenly. Each cycle follows six steps:
- Assess and record your learning needs, using the Capabilities for Osteopaths, the Council's code and other standards.
- Plan your learning activities.
- Do the learning and keep evidence.
- Reflect on it in writing.
- Put relevant changes into practice.
- Review and record the effect on your practice.
Our courses fit steps 3 to 6: you keep the certificate as evidence, the reflective account covers step 4, and the action plan at the end helps with steps 5 and 6. The Council strongly encourages peer review; discussing a course case with a peer is a simple way to add it.
See our allied health recertification guide for how other authorities compare.
Supporting courses: consent, communication and culture
Consent in osteopathy is not a one-off form. It covers what you will examine and treat, the techniques you plan to use including high-velocity thrust, the risks, costs and number of sessions, and the right to stop at any point. The Council's Guidelines for Informed Consent and Code of Rights Rights 5 to 7 set the bar.
Supporting courses: touch, boundaries and chaperones
Boundary breaches are among the most serious matters for any manual therapist. These courses cover the Code's boundary standards, managing pre-existing relationships, online contact and offering a support person.
Supporting courses: records and privacy
The Council's Guidelines for Clinical Record Keeping (2017) expect timely, signed and dated entries and no alteration of original records. Good notes also show consent was obtained.
Supporting courses: fees, ACC and advertising
Honest billing, avoiding over-servicing, fair treatment plans and advertising that complies with the Fair Trading Act and the Council's Medical Advertisement Policy.
Supporting courses: safe practice and referral
Recognising red flags, knowing when to refer to a GP or emergency care, working within your capabilities, and keeping a clean, safe clinic.
Supporting courses: complaints and remediation
If a consumer complains, see the remediation courses for osteopaths page for the process and the courses matched to each concern.
A case to try both ways
A consumer you have treated for six months for lower back pain says they feel much better and are grateful. At the end of the session they invite you to a family celebration and hand you an expensive bottle of wine. They also mention they would like to keep coming weekly, "just to stay on top of it".
The ethics course asks: what do warmth, gratitude and cultural custom call for, and where do they meet your duty to keep a professional relationship? Is ongoing weekly treatment in this consumer's interest, or yours?
The professional standards course asks what the Code's standards on gifts and boundaries require, how to decline without causing offence, what to record, and how to discuss and document a discharge or maintenance plan that you can justify clinically and financially.
Where osteopathic practice gets ethically difficult
The Code of Conduct is clear on the big prohibitions. Most real-world problems are subtler, and they tend to cluster around a few situations:
- Undressing and exposure. Asking a consumer to undress more than the assessment needs, not offering a gown or towel, or staying in the room while they change all risk a complaint, even when nothing else goes wrong.
- Treating people you know. In smaller towns your consumers may be neighbours, friends or colleagues. The Code's guidance suggests considering whether care should go to someone else when a non-professional relationship already exists.
- Open-ended treatment. Ongoing visits without clear goals or review can look like over-servicing, especially where ACC is paying.
- Explaining evidence. Consumers deserve an honest account of what treatment can and cannot achieve. Overstated benefits can breach the right to full information and the Council's advertising rules.
- Selling products. The Code bars promoting products for personal gain. Recommending equipment or supplements needs a clinical reason and full disclosure of any interest.
- Online contact. Friend requests and private messages from consumers blur the professional relationship the Code asks you to keep.
Each scenario appears in at least one of the core courses with a recommended approach and wording you can use in the clinic.
Who these courses suit
- Registered osteopaths in private practice, multidisciplinary clinics and sports settings.
- New registrants moving from training into independent practice.
- Osteopaths who trained overseas and are learning how the HPCA Act, HDC, ACC and the Council's Code fit together.
- Clinic owners setting policies on gifts, treatment plans and advertising.
- Osteopaths responding to a complaint or Council enquiry.
Getting more from a course through peer review
The Council strongly encourages peer review. After a core course, choose one case and discuss it with an osteopath colleague. Ask each other how you would explain the plan, the risks and the cost, how your notes would read if the consumer later complained, and what you would change in your clinic's routines. Write down what you agreed and add it to your continuing competence record alongside the certificate and reflection.
How online study works
Enrol and start straight away. Each course has 2 or more hours (estimated) of content (shown on the course card) with short knowledge checks. You finish with 20 multiple-choice questions; 80% (16 of 20) passes and you can retake it. You then download a Fitness To Practice certificate and complete a reflective account to add to your continuing competence record.
Start this cycle with the two core courses
Pair the ethics and professional standards courses, then add one supporting course from your learning needs assessment.
Questions
Does the Osteopathic Council still use a Code of Ethics?
The Council's 2015 Code of Ethics has been replaced by the Code of Conduct for Osteopaths, dated September 2020. The Code of Conduct sets eight principles with specific standards and guidance. Our courses are built on the Code of Conduct, and they point to the Council's related guidelines on consent, records and advertising.
How many CPD hours do osteopaths need in New Zealand?
The Council's continuing competence programme, published in April 2021, asks for at least 50 points per two-year cycle, where one point is one hour, and at least 10 hours in each year. Check the Council's website for the current version before you plan, since requirements can be updated.
What does the Code say about relationships with former consumers?
Standard 7.16 prohibits sexual or intimate relationships with consumers in your care or people close to them. The Council's guidance says relationships with former consumers are inappropriate in most circumstances, and that the consumer's consent is not a defence. Our boundaries content explains why and how to handle the risk early.
Can I accept gifts from consumers?
The Code sets limits on gifts and hospitality, and bars accepting loans or bequests. Small tokens may be acceptable, but anything that could affect your judgement or be seen as exploiting the relationship is not. The courses work through how to decline graciously and what to record.
How do the courses deal with ACC-funded treatment?
They cover honest documentation that matches the treatment given and claimed, treatment plans that reflect clinical need, and the Code's standard on appropriate charging to third-party payers. They are not ACC training, so follow ACC's guidance for its own processes.
What does informed consent involve for spinal manipulation?
Explain what you plan to do and why, the risks and benefits, alternatives, and that the consumer can stop or refuse. Seek specific consent before techniques such as high-velocity thrust, and record it. The Council's Guidelines for Informed Consent and Code of Rights Rights 6 and 7 apply.
Can osteopaths advertise testimonials or health claims?
Standard 7.12 requires advertising to comply with consumer protection law, the Fair Trading Act and, where relevant, therapeutic advertising rules, as set out in the Council's Medical Advertisement Policy. The professionalism course explains how to avoid misleading claims. Check the policy itself before publishing.
Which step of the continuing competence cycle does a course cover?
A course is a learning activity (step 3), and our reflective account supports step 4. The action plan helps you apply and review changes (steps 5 and 6). You still need to assess your learning needs and plan your learning yourself.
Is there cultural safety content for osteopaths?
Principle 2 of the Code covers cultural needs, partnership with Māori consumers and whānau, and Māori health inequities. The core courses introduce these standards; our Cultural Safety and Health Equity course goes into depth.
Do I need a chaperone when treating consumers?
The Code of Conduct does not mention chaperones specifically, but its standards on dignity, consent and boundaries make offering a support person good practice for sensitive examinations. Our Chaperones and Intimate Examinations course explains how to offer and record this.
What if a consumer complains to the HDC?
Respond promptly and carefully, keep your notes, and get advice from your insurer, professional association or a lawyer before you reply. Our remediation courses page for osteopaths explains what follows and which courses fit each kind of concern.
Can a student osteopath take the courses?
Students should follow their training programme's guidance.
Can I treat friends and family as an osteopath?
The Code's guidance asks you to consider whether care should be transferred when a non-professional relationship already exists, because it can affect objectivity, consent and boundaries. In some communities that is not practical. The courses explain how to decide, how to manage the overlap openly, and what to record if you go ahead.
Can I sell supplements or equipment to consumers?
The Code bars promoting products for personal gain and asks you to declare interests that could affect your judgement. If you recommend a product, it should be for a clear clinical reason, with any financial interest disclosed and the consumer free to buy elsewhere. The professionalism course works through examples.
Official sources
Checked October 2026. Rules and processes change, so confirm the current position with the official source. This page is general information, not legal advice.
- Osteopathic Council: Policies and guidelines
- Osteopathic Council: Code of Conduct for Osteopaths (September 2020)
- Osteopathic Council: Continuing competence programme for osteopaths
- Ministry of Health: Responsible authorities
- HDC: Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights
- Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003
How these courses are built
Official sources only
Every legal and regulatory point comes from primary sources: the HPCA Act 2003, the responsible authorities' standards and the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights. Anything we cannot confirm is left out.
Original, edition by edition
Lessons, scenarios and assessment questions are written by us for each edition separately, then checked for accuracy, teaching quality and fair assessment before publication.
Reviewed when rules change
When a code, standard or law changes, the affected courses are reviewed and updated. Reported errors in legal or regulatory facts are corrected first.