The primary role of Regulatory Authorities, including the Dietitians Board, is to promote and protect the public interest by providing for mechanisms to ensure that health practitioners are qualified, competent and fit to practise their profession. To achieve this, the Dietitians Board provides frameworks for the regulation of the dietetic profession.The Dietitians Board is the statutory body constituted under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (HPCA Act) for maintaining self-regulation of the dietetic profession.

Board members are appointed by and are responsible to the Minister of Health.The Board’s major roles are to:

prescribe qualifications for scopes of practice by dietitians
accredit and monitor educational institutions and programmes
grant registration of dietitians and issue practising certificates
review and promote the competence of dietitians
set standards
deal with cases of dietitians who may be unable to perform professionally.

How to register

Overseas Trained Dietitians

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,

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.

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.

For more information, please contact one of our offices

Last Updated: 01 February 2012

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