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Executive Officers Update
19 June 2008
[As published in the June 2008 edition of Notice Board]
Kia ora koutou,
The news that New Zealand will be hosting the 2009 IFSW Asia Pacific Regional Conference is exciting. It is 13 years since an IFSW event was last held here so we will be doing everything we can to assist to make the most of this opportunity. Progress is being made on planning the Conference which will be held jointly with the Asia Pacific Association of Social Work Educators Conference. The conferences will be held 11-13 November 2009 at Sky City in Auckland.
Planning is also underway for the 2009 ANZASW National Conference to be held in Wellington from April 17 to 18. More information on these events will appear in Notice Board over the coming months and there will be dedicated pages on the ANZASW website, www.anzasw.org.nz
Our work with the Social Workers Registration Board (SWRB), the Industry Training Organisation and Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Work Educators on a project to review the competency assessment process for the purposes of registration has continued. This has led to a proposal for a paper based process based on our existing recertification process. We believe that all Branches and Roopu will have an opportunity to consider this proposal and provide feedback to the SWRB.
The SWRB’s most recent meeting was too close to the Notice Board deadline for us to update you about their proposal to allow new graduate social workers to become provisionally registered on the basis of their qualification, with a requirement that they undertake a full competency assessment within two years. In addition to lodging our concerns about this proposal with the SWRB, we have again asked the SWRB for an opportunity for our two Boards to meet face to face to help build a positive working relationship. We will keep you informed of developments.
This month is a time of change at National Office. Amy-lee is now on maternity leave and we have a temporary replacement, Sharon Quirke, to keep the office running smoothly for the next six months. Sharon previously worked for the British Medical Association and so we hope she will be able to share some of her experience from another professional association. Please give Sharon a warm welcome if you are contacting National Office and speak to her on the phone.
Much of my time in recent weeks has been focused on drafting the ANZASW Strategic Plan following the consultation we undertook at the National Congress. The draft plan will be considered at the next meeting of the Governance Board (13-14 June) and then a final draft will be produced which will be made available on the website so that YOU can keep up to date with the work and aspirations of YOUR Association.
For the year ahead we can only hope that we have as much success as our Kaumatua, Turoa Haronga, who recently graduated with a Masters of Social Work at Massey University. Congratulations Turoa!
Dominic Chilvers, Executive Officer
dominicc@anzasw.org.nz