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Start here: the core remediation set for psychologists
Whatever the concern, most psychologists responding to the Board benefit from the same foundation: a clear grasp of the ethical principles and conduct standards that apply to psychological practice in Aotearoa, and the skills to show insight, reflect honestly and prevent a repeat. That is what this core set covers.
The two profession-specific courses come first, and they do different jobs. Ethics for psychologists is about values and reasoning: respect for the dignity of people and peoples, responsible caring, integrity in relationships and how you think through a dilemma when principles pull in different directions, for example confidentiality against a risk of serious harm. Professional standards for psychologists is about conduct you can be measured against: practising within your scope and competence, keeping records, managing supervision, honest reports, informed consent and accountability when something goes wrong.
The remaining six courses are about the response itself: handling a complaint well, understanding what remediation means under the HPCA Act, developing and demonstrating insight, writing reflection that shows learning rather than defensiveness, putting practical safeguards in place, and rebuilding trust with clients, colleagues and the Board.
Core setComplete the set with these
Ethics and ethical conduct
Ethical concerns about psychologists often arise where judgement, not a rule, decided the outcome: whether to break confidentiality, how to handle a request from a third party for a report, how to respond when a client's culture and your usual approach differ, or whether a client could truly consent to an assessment. The Board will ask whether you recognised the ethical issue at the time, whether you reasoned it through and whether you sought supervision or consultation.
From 1 October 2026 the Board's new Code of Conduct is the primary guidance document, replacing the 2002 Code of Ethics. If the events in your matter happened earlier, ask your adviser which document applies, because a committee usually assesses conduct against the standard in force at the time. The courses below cover reasoning frameworks, informed consent, privacy under the Health Information Privacy Code 2020 and culturally safe practice.
RecommendedStart with these
Professionalism, conduct and attitude
Conduct complaints are not only about clients. Psychologists are also referred for how they treat colleagues, trainees and other agencies: dismissive or hostile emails, failing to cooperate with a multidisciplinary team, ignoring supervision advice, or working beyond the competence their scope and training support. A pattern of small lapses can matter as much as one serious one.
Choose these courses when the concern is about attitude, teamwork, communication style, scope or professional accountability. They help you describe what a competent and respectful psychologist would have done, compare it with what you did, and set out specific changes, such as a supervision plan or a revised approach to disagreements.
RecommendedStart with these
Further relevantAdd if they fit the concern
Probity, honesty and financial integrity
Honesty concerns are treated seriously by every responsible authority because they go to whether the public can trust the practitioner. For psychologists they commonly involve invoices or funding claims that do not match the sessions delivered, reports that overstate what an assessment showed, altered or back-dated notes, inaccurate statements on an annual practising certificate application, or an undisclosed conflict of interest in court or employment work.
If dishonesty is alleged, take legal advice early. Conduct likely to bring discredit to the profession is a ground for a disciplinary charge under section 100 of the HPCA Act. These courses explain what probity requires, how to keep records and claims accurate and how to demonstrate a lasting change in practice.
RecommendedStart with these
Further relevantAdd if they fit the concern
Professional boundaries: clients and colleagues
Psychological work involves long, private, emotionally intense relationships, which is why boundary concerns are among the most serious a psychologist can face. Examples include dual relationships in small communities, accepting gifts, contact through social media or personal phones, self-disclosure that shifts the focus to the psychologist, and any sexualised behaviour. Right 2 of the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights protects clients from exploitation, which the Code defines to include any abuse of a position of trust.
Boundary courses help you identify where the line was crossed, why the risk was higher for this client, and how supervision, documentation and clear policies on contact will prevent it happening again. Boundary issues with colleagues, such as relationships with supervisees, are covered too.
RecommendedStart with these
Further relevantAdd if they fit the concern
Clinical care, assessment and records
Competence concerns for psychologists usually relate to the quality of an assessment or intervention: tests used outside their validated purpose, conclusions not supported by the data, risk not assessed or documented, or a delayed response to deterioration. Family Court specialist report writing attracts particular scrutiny, and the Board notes that those complaints are first reviewed by the Family Court.
Good records are your best evidence. If your notes are thin, late or missing, it is hard to show what you did and why. These courses cover clinical competence, documentation, risk and safeguarding, and how to build a structured learning plan that a competence reviewer would recognise.
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Notification, investigation and the Tribunal process
Some psychologists need help less with the substance of the concern than with the process: how to write a measured response, how to cope with months of uncertainty, what a Professional Conduct Committee will look at, and how to prepare if a charge is laid before the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal. These courses explain each stage in plain language and help you organise your evidence of learning so that your adviser can use it.
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Match the concern to a course
The concerns that most often lead to complaints and investigations, how they are viewed, and the courses that address each one.
Breach of confidentiality or privacy
Disclosing client information without consent or a lawful exception is assessed against the Health Information Privacy Code 2020 and the Board's conduct standards; the Board may also refer privacy matters to the Privacy Commissioner.
Dual relationship or boundary crossing
In long therapeutic relationships, contact outside sessions, gifts or blurred roles are closely examined because of the power imbalance and the Code of Rights protection against exploitation.
Sexualised conduct with a client
Treated as among the most serious concerns; usually goes to a Professional Conduct Committee and may lead to a charge before the Tribunal.
Unsupported conclusions in a report
Reports for courts, ACC, employers or other third parties must reflect the data and stay within competence; overstated opinions raise competence and honesty questions.
Inadequate risk assessment
Failure to assess or record suicide or harm risk, or to act on it, is usually treated as a competence concern and may lead to a competence review.
Invoicing or funding claims that do not match sessions
Inaccurate claims are a probity issue; the Board may refer criminal matters to Police as well as considering conduct.
Consent not properly obtained
Clients, and in some cases parents or guardians, must be told what an assessment or intervention involves and how information will be used before they agree.
Unprofessional communication with colleagues or agencies
Hostile, dismissive or uncooperative behaviour can be a conduct matter even when clinical care was sound.
Working beyond competence or scope
Taking on assessments or populations without training or supervision is a competence issue the Board can address with a programme or conditions.
Who handles a concern about a psychologist
The Health and Disability Commissioner comes first
If a complaint alleges that your practice or conduct affected a health consumer, the Board must refer it to the Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC). While HDC is considering it, the Board cannot assess or investigate the complaint. HDC measures care against the Code of Rights and may close the matter, refer it back to you to resolve, refer it to the Board, or open a formal investigation that ends in a breach or no-breach opinion.
The Board's assessment
Once HDC refers the complaint back or takes no further action, the Board's Registration and Standards Coordinator usually asks for your response within 10 working days; reasonable extensions are possible. The Conduct, Competence & Fitness Committee then assesses the matter. Its options include no further action, an advisory letter, a request for more information, referral to another agency such as the Privacy Commissioner or Police, a competence review, a fitness (health) review, or referral to a Professional Conduct Committee.
Competence and health routes
A competence review (section 36 of the HPCA Act) looks at whether your practice meets the required standard. It can lead to a competence programme, conditions on your scope of practice, an assessment, or counselling and assistance. Health concerns are handled separately (sections 45 to 51), with the aim of supporting safe practice. In both routes the complainant is no longer involved.
Professional Conduct Committee and the Tribunal
A PCC investigates conduct, can require information, and may recommend steps to the Board, refer the matter to conciliation, or lay a charge before the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal (HPDT). HDC's Director of Proceedings can also lay a charge. The Tribunal can censure, fine up to NZ$30,000, impose conditions, suspend for up to three years or cancel registration, and order costs.
Interim steps and what stays the same
If the Board believes your practice poses a risk of harm, it can impose conditions or suspend your practising certificate while the matter is investigated. In most cases, though, you keep practising, keep your annual practising certificate and keep meeting your Continuing Competence Programme requirements while the concern is assessed.
What the Board and its committees are looking for
- Insight: do you understand what went wrong, why it mattered to the client and how it affects trust in psychologists?
- Remediation: have you taken concrete, relevant steps, such as learning, supervision or changes to your systems?
- Risk of repetition: what is different now, and what would stop it happening again under pressure?
- Candour: were you open with the client and the Board, and is your account consistent with the records?
- Records: do your notes, reports and invoices support what you say happened?
- Verifiable evidence: certificates, supervision logs and written reflections that a third party can check carry more weight than assurances.
How a certificated course can support your response
A course is not a defence and cannot guarantee any outcome. What it can do is give you structured, dated evidence that you have studied the relevant standard and thought about how it applies to your practice. Each course ends with a 20-question assessment (80% to pass), a certificate of completion and a structured reflective account you can adapt into your own words.
Used well, that evidence can help your adviser show the committee that you have engaged early and specifically. Used badly, a pile of unrelated certificates suggests box-ticking. Choose courses that match the concern, and finish with a reflection that names what you will do differently. If the Board, a PCC or the Tribunal has already set an education requirement, check with them or your lawyer that our course is acceptable before enrolling, because they decide what meets their terms.
Five steps from letter to evidence of learning
- Get advice. Contact your professional indemnity insurer, your professional association or union if you belong to one, or a lawyer experienced in HPCA Act matters, before you reply to the Board.
- Choose by concern. Start with the core set, then add the concern group that matches the allegations. Two to four well-chosen extra courses usually say more than ten.
- Study privately. Work through the course at your own pace; nobody is told you have enrolled.
- Write your reflection. Use the reflective template to describe what happened, what you have learned and what you now do differently, without identifying the client.
- Share through your adviser. If your adviser agrees it helps, provide the certificate and reflection with your response.
Insight, reflection and remediation in New Zealand terms
Insight is not a statutory test in the HPCA Act, but committees and the Tribunal consider it because it bears on the risk of repetition and the least restrictive response. Psychologists sometimes find insight harder to show than other practitioners, precisely because they are trained to understand behaviour: an explanation can read like an excuse. Keep the focus on the client's experience and on what you will change.
Reflection is the written evidence of that thinking. Statements made for a competence review or programme are protected from use against you in other proceedings (section 44(4)), but a PCC can call for information, so write reflections that focus on learning, de-identify the client and assume they may be read by others.
Remediation means the steps that address the gap: learning, supervision, changes to how you manage records or contact. Under the Act, formal remediation may be ordered as a competence programme or conditions; voluntary learning shows you are not waiting to be told.
Looking after yourself during the process
Being the subject of a complaint is stressful even for those who help others with stress every day. Keep seeing your supervisor, tell someone you trust, and do not try to manage it alone. If you need to talk to someone now, call or text 1737, Need to talk?, free at any time. The Board publishes information sheets and a flowchart of its process, and it keeps practitioners updated as a matter progresses.
Choose your courses today
Start with the eight-course core set, add the concern group that fits, and keep every certificate and reflection in one place for your adviser.
Questions
Which code will the Board use to assess my conduct?
From 1 October 2026 the Board's Code of Conduct is its primary guidance document, replacing the Code of Ethics for Psychologists Working in Aotearoa New Zealand (2002). For events before that date, the committee will usually consider the standard that applied at the time, alongside the Core Competencies and the HPCA Act. Ask your adviser which applies to your matter, and study both if the conduct spans the change.
How long do I have to respond to the Board?
When the Board asks for your response to a complaint, it usually gives about 10 working days, and its information sheet says reasonable extensions can be granted. Do not let the deadline push you into a rushed reply. Contact your indemnity insurer or lawyer first, ask for more time if you need it, and use that time to read the complaint carefully and gather your records.
What is the Conduct, Competence & Fitness Committee?
It is the Board committee that assesses complaints once all the information is in. It decides whether to take no further action, send an advisory letter, refer you for a competence or fitness review, refer the matter to a Professional Conduct Committee, ask for more information, or pass the issue to another agency such as the Privacy Commissioner or Police. It normally gives reasons for its decision.
Does the Board deal with a complaint while HDC has it?
No. Complaints alleging that your practice or conduct affected a health consumer must go to the Health and Disability Commissioner first, and the Board cannot assess or investigate them while HDC is considering the matter. The Board can still act on urgent risk, for example by imposing conditions or suspension pending investigation. Many matters are resolved or closed at the HDC stage.
Can I keep practising while I am under investigation?
In most cases, yes. You keep your annual practising certificate and scope unless the Board decides your practice poses a risk of harm and imposes conditions or a suspension pending investigation. Keep meeting your Continuing Competence Programme requirements on the Board's digital platform and keep using supervision, which also helps show you are taking the concern seriously.
Which courses should a psychologist take first?
Start with the core set: the ethics and professional standards courses for psychologists, then the courses on responding to a complaint, remediation, insight, reflection, preventing recurrence and rebuilding trust. Add the concern group that matches the allegation, for example boundaries or records. A focused selection with a strong reflection is more persuasive than a long list of certificates.
What is an advisory letter from the Board?
An advisory letter is one way the Committee can close a complaint while still drawing your attention to an aspect of practice it wants you to think about. It is not a disciplinary finding. Treat it as a prompt to review that area: a relevant course and a short written reflection kept in your records show you acted on the advice.
What happens in a competence review for a psychologist?
A competence review looks at whether your practice meets the standard expected for your scope. If the review finds gaps, the Board can require a competence programme, place conditions on your scope of practice, require an assessment, or arrange counselling or assistance. The complainant is no longer involved once a matter goes to review. Statements you make for the review cannot be used against you in other proceedings.
I am a Family Court report writer. Is my process different?
The Board says complaints about Family Court specialist report writers are first reviewed by the Family Court, which may decide that other court matters must come first, and it publishes a separate information sheet for that process. The standards you are measured against are the same, so courses on report writing, records, probity and consent remain relevant.
Should I send my course certificates straight to the Board?
Not without advice. Your indemnity insurer or lawyer will know when and how evidence of learning helps your response. Usually it is best provided together with a reflection that links the learning to the specific concern. Sending certificates alone, or too early, can look like a reflex rather than real engagement.
How do I show insight without admitting things I dispute?
You can acknowledge the client's experience and what you would do differently without accepting every allegation. Focus on the parts you recognise, explain what you have learned about them, and describe concrete changes. Your adviser can help you word this. Our insight and reflection courses include templates that separate learning from the factual dispute.
Can my reflective notes be used against me?
Statements made for a competence review or competence programme are protected under section 44(4) of the HPCA Act, but private reflections have no general legal privilege and a Professional Conduct Committee can call for information. Write reflections that focus on learning, leave out identifying client details and assume someone else may read them.
What penalties can the Tribunal impose on a psychologist?
If a charge is proven, the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal can censure, fine up to NZ$30,000, impose conditions for up to three years, suspend registration for up to three years or cancel it, and order costs. Charges come from a Professional Conduct Committee or HDC's Director of Proceedings. Only a small proportion of complaints reach this stage.
How long does each course take?
Each course has a set estimated learning time, two or three hours depending on the topic, with knowledge checks, a 20-question assessment and an 80% pass mark. You get instant online access and can study in short sessions. Most psychologists complete the core set over a few weeks alongside normal practice.
Where can I get support if this is affecting my wellbeing?
Talk to your supervisor and someone you trust, and contact your indemnity insurer or professional association for practical help. If you need to talk to someone now, call or text 1737, Need to talk?, free at any time. Looking after yourself is also part of safe practice.
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.
- New Zealand Psychologists Board: has a concern been raised about you?
- New Zealand Psychologists Board: how complaints and notifications are managed
- New Zealand Psychologists Board: Complaints Process Information Sheet (2026)
- New Zealand Psychologists Board: complaints process flowchart
- New Zealand Psychologists Board: core competencies and code
- Health and Disability Commissioner: Code of Rights
- Health and Disability Commissioner: what if a complaint is made about me?
- Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal
- HPCA Act 2003, section 100
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.