Benefits of Membership

All members of ANZASW gain access to the following five basic services. Please follow the links on the left for further information about these benefits:

Competency Assessment Programme: ANZASW provides a competency assessment service and all new members must complete this within one year of joining the Association. The ANZASW competency assessment service is approved by the Social Workers Registration Board for the purposes of becoming a registered social worker. The competency assessment and complaints resolution processes provide a system for ensuring that members of ANZASW are accountable to consumers.

Continuing Professional Development: ANZASW provides a range of CPD events throughout New Zealand and these are provided to members on a discounted basis.

Indemnity Insurance: Full members of ANZASW are provided with professional indemnity insurance of up to $500,000 for the defense of claims against a member's professional practice as a Social Worker.

Publications: All members of ANZASW receive a free copy of a quarterly professional journal called Social Work Review with articles, papers, opinions, reviews and other items of interest to Social Workers. ANZASW also publishes a monthly newsletter called Social Work Notice Board that contains up to date information about the activities of the Association. Members can receive Notice Board either by email or as a printed version free of charge.

Our Voice - Lobbying: ANZASW provides a political voice for the profession and members have the facility to voice work related issues without compromising their position as an employee. This service provides the opportunities to lobby employers, agencies and politicians about issues which have an affect on both clients and the profession.

In addition to these five basic services, members also have the opportunity to benefit from participation in ANZASW in the following five ways. All of these benefits of membership rely more heavily on the motivation of the individual and their willingness to actively participate in the work of the Association at either a local or national level:

Develop the profession: Involvement in developing an indigenous model of social work for Aotearoa New Zealand, with a unique code of practice set in the context of a meaningful partnership with Tangata Whenua Takawaenga o Aotearoa.

Develop new skills: Participation also provides the opportunity to learn or develop skills that members may not otherwise have the opportunity to develop. Possible examples include: writing for the journal, publicity, media work, publishing, conference organisation, the governance role in running an organisation and many more.

Networking and collegial support: Through involvement with ANZASW, both at a local and national level, members are able to develop a range of social work contacts in many agencies throughout Aotearoa New Zealand.

International Links: ANZASW is affiliated to the International Federation of Social Work and sends representatives to world and regional Asia Pacific conferences, and in this way provides members with a mechanism to learn about and influence global social work issues.

Support for Research: ANZASW supports practitioner led research through the provision of ethical advice and access to the members as a potential source of research participants.