Recertification for allied and other HPCA Act practitioners

The Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (the HPCA Act) creates 18 responsible authorities in New Zealand. Five cover doctors, nurses, midwives, oral health practitioners and pharmacists, and each has its own page on this site. This page covers the other 13, whose registers cover psychologists, physiotherapists, paramedics, occupational therapists, MRTs, medical laboratory science and anaesthetic technology workers, optometrists, dispensing opticians, dietitians, podiatrists, chiropractors, osteopaths, psychotherapists and Chinese medicine practitioners.

Every one of these authorities sets a recertification programme under section 41 of the Act, and every one asks you to declare, when you renew your annual practising certificate (APC), that you have met it. That is where the similarity ends. Some count hours, one counts credits, some count nothing at all and look instead for a plan, a supervisor's involvement and evidence of reflection. Cycles run for one year or two, and audit rates range from about 5% to up to 40% of practitioners.

Below, the confirmed requirements sit side by side, each linked to the authority that owns the rule. Where we could not confirm a detail in October 2026, we say so rather than guess.

The figures below come from each authority's own website, read in October 2026. "Not stated on site" means the detail sits in a policy document we could not open or confirm, not that there is no requirement.

Two threads run through almost every programme: a cultural component (culture hours, a Māori culture reflection, cultural credits, a Te Tiriti component or set cultural safety modules) and written reflection. Very few of these programmes are satisfied by a pile of attendance certificates.

Te Kaunihera Manapou has regulated paramedics since 1 January 2020 and runs one of the clearest hour-based schemes in this group. Each year from 1 April to 31 March you complete 25 hours of CPD, or 30 hours if you hold an extended care, critical care or intensive care endorsement. At least 3 hours must focus on culture with the aim of improving the patient experience.

Hours alone do not meet the requirement. For every activity you record what you did and reflect on what you learned, and tie that reflection to the relevant Paramedic Council standard for clinical competence or cultural safety. You then declare at APC renewal whether you met the requirement, and after each practising cycle the Council audits a selection of paramedics.

• Log activities as you go, not in March.
• Write the reflection within a week while the learning is fresh.
• Read the Council's Code of Conduct alongside the standards: conduct topics such as boundaries, honesty and privacy are legitimate CPD for a paramedic.

The Psychologists Board's Continuing Competence Programme (CCP) is built around a learning cycle rather than an hour target. The Board's participant guide does not mandate a number of hours. Instead, each CCP year (1 April to 31 March) you:

1. Complete a self-reflective review against the Core Competencies, with your supervisor involved.
2. Set learning objectives from the gaps you find, at least a few and ideally three to five.
3. Write a learning plan showing how you will meet each one (reading, consultation, supervision, courses and so on).
4. Record learning activities with dates through the year.
5. Complete a year-end review with your supervisor against your original objectives.

Supervisor involvement is required for your first three years with a practising certificate and recommended after that. Keep your CCP logbook for at least three years: if your APC application is selected for audit, the guide gives you 15 working days to submit it.

Two 2026 changes matter. From 1 April 2026 the CCP moved to a compulsory digital platform in the practitioner portal, so your plan and records now live there. And from 1 October 2026 the Board's new Code of Conduct replaced the 2002 Code of Ethics for Psychologists Working in Aotearoa New Zealand as the primary guidance document. A CCP objective built on the new Code is an obvious choice this year.

The Physiotherapy Board's recertification programme has annual parts and a rolling hours total:

• Professional development plan on the Board's Recertification Record template, signed off by a peer.
• Peer review, documented on the same template; in clinical settings the reviewer must be a New Zealand registered physiotherapist with a current APC.
• Three reflections a year: one on Māori culture and how it relates to your practice, and two from the cultural, ethical or professional categories.
• 100 hours of CPD every three practising years, on a rolling basis. Specialists and advanced practice physiotherapists put half of those hours into their specialty area.

Around 5% of physiotherapists with a current APC are randomly selected for a recertification audit each year, and the Board charges no fee for it. If you do not provide the documents, the matter goes to the Board or Registrar, which can lead to a competence review, conditions or suspension.

The Board and Physiotherapy New Zealand are consulting on a revised Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. The draft is not yet in force, so the current code still applies.

Medical radiation technologists

The biennium model is strict about evidence. If audited, you supply practitioner and peer declarations, a CPD logbook, six pieces of evidence (at least four for substantive CPD and at least one from each year) and four reflective statements, covering ethical practice, scope of practice, cultural competence and one further element. Requirements are pro-rated if you worked part of the period.

Medical laboratory science and anaesthetic technology

The Medical Sciences Council audits up to 40% of practitioners every two years, aiming for every practitioner to be audited at least once in five years. Its site notes that the audit itself is a legal requirement under section 41. Pro-rated hours differ by scope (for example, 5 hours per three-month period for scientists and anaesthetic technicians), with full annual figures in the CPD policy.

Dietitians

The Dietitians Board counts credits rather than hours: 15 a year across four domains. Its programme applies to every practising dietitian, whether full time, part time, locum, paid or voluntary.

Chiropractors

At least 20 hours a year, recorded in the Board's online system, with peer interaction where possible and reflection treated as essential.

Optometrists and dispensing opticians

The Board warns that what you must do changes from year to year, because some parts fall due annually, some every two years and some every four to eight years. Read the Recertification Programme policy at the start of each cycle.

Several professions people group with "allied health" are outside the HPCA Act. Social workers are registered under their own separate legislation. We found no statutory regulator for counsellors or speech-language therapists in our October 2026 check; they are usually members of professional associations with their own requirements. None of them has a section 41 recertification programme, and the HDC, Professional Conduct Committee and Tribunal pathway described on our other New Zealand pages applies to HPCA Act practitioners.

No New Zealand responsible authority approves or accredits individual third-party courses for general recertification, and Fitness To Practice is not affiliated with, approved or endorsed by any of the 13 authorities above. What most of these programmes do is accept learning that you choose, link to your plan or objectives, and reflect on. That is what our courses are designed around. Each is 2 or 3 hours of study with built-in checks and a closing 20-question test (16 correct to pass), and you leave with a completion certificate and a reflection template that drops into a board logbook or online portal.

Count only what your authority's rules let you count, and never round a course up beyond the hours you actually spent. If you are working under a competence programme or conditions set by your authority, this is different: see our guide to Professional Conduct Committee investigations and check with your authority before enrolling. You can browse every course on our New Zealand course page.

1. Start from the standard, not the catalogue. Pick the competency, domain or cultural requirement you need to address, then find learning that fits it.
2. Record on the day. Date, provider, time spent, and which objective it serves.
3. Reflect in your own words. What changed in your practice, with a de-identified example. Copying a course summary is not reflection.
4. Mix the formats. Chiropractic asks for varied activities; dietetics and physiotherapy require peer elements; psychology needs your supervisor. A programme made only of online courses rarely meets any of them.
5. Keep evidence for longer than the cycle. Psychologists must keep logbooks for three years; MRT and medical science audits look back over a full biennium after it ends.

Unsure whether something counts? Ask your authority before the cycle closes. Our fitness to practise overview covers what follows if wider concerns arise.