The membership year runs from 1 January to 31 December each year. 

Payment can be made by credit card, internet banking, payment over the counter into the NZSTA bank account (Kiwibank) or by cheque, more details are on our Payments page.

There are currently six membership categories of membership:

• Full Members
• Provisional Members
• Student Members
• Non-working Members
• Associate Members
• Life Members
• Honorary Members

As part of the application process you must agree to abide by the NZSTA Code of Ethics and this document can be viewed here.

If you were trained outside of New Zealand and have not had your qualifications previously assessed and approved then you should follow the Mutual Recognition Agreement Procedure or the Qualifications Approval Process

Full Members

Criteria

Full members of NZSTA are currently engaged in the activities of Speech-Language Therapy as a practitioner, administrator, educator, researcher, or any combination thereof, for which payment will be received during any part of the year and:

• are trained in New Zealand with a Teachers’ Certificate endorsed with qualifications in speech-language therapy, or with a Diploma in Speech-Language Therapy awarded prior to 1993; or
• hold the Bachelor of Speech and Language Therapy awarded by the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, prior to January 2004; or
• hold a Bachelor of Speech-Language Therapy or an equivalent Bachelors or Masters degree from an NZSTA-accredited programme; or
• have had their qualifications approved by the NZSTA.

In addition the following criteria must be met:

• A minimum of 1,000 hours clinical Speech-Language Therapy experience in the last 5 years.
• Evidence of a record of Continuing Professional Development.

Two Categories of Full Membership:

Those working 26 hours or more per week - the annual fee for 2012 is NZ$358.00 (including GST)

Those working less than 26 hours per week - the annual fee for 2012 is NZ$250.00(including GST)

Payment by instalments is also available.  Full information is available at Instalment payment amounts. 

Provisional Members

Provisional members of NZSTA are those members taking part in supervised professional clinical practice in order to obtain full membership status in the NZSTA. Provisional membership is viewed as a period of transition between supervised student practice and independent delivery of services, or between a time of absence from the profession and re-entry into the profession.

Criteria

The following individuals are eligible to be or become Provisional Members of NZSTA:

• Graduates of an NZSTA accredited programme in their first year of practice
• speech language therapists who have not accumulated 1000 hours of speech-language therapy practice within the 5 years immediately prior to the application for membership;
• speech-language therapists whose qualifications have been deemed provisional by the NZSTA (for reasons including, but not limited to, insufficient education or experience in dysphagia).

 

The annual fee for 2012 is NZ$358.00 (including GST).

Payment by instalments is also available.  Full information is available at Instalment payment amounts.

New graduates who were a student member of NZSTA in 2011 are granted a discount of $34.50 off their membership fee for each year of student membership. 

For the Provisonal Membership guidelines and the requirements to progress to full membership please read Guidelines for Provisional Membership.

The Recommendation for Fulll Membership form for provisional NZSTA members who are NZ trained therapists which needs to be completed by their supervisor can be downloaded here: Recommendaton for Full Membership - NZ trained therapists

The Recommendation for Full Membership Form for provisional NZSTA members who are overseas trained therapists to have completed by their supervisor can be downloaded here: Recommendation for Full Membership - overseas trained

Guidelines for therapists returning to practice can be downloaded here.

Student Members

Individuals eligible for this category are:

• Persons currently enrolled in an NZSTA accredited speech and language therapy programme;
• Persons holding an NZSTA recognised qualification who are enrolled full-time or part-time in a course of post-graduate study and who are not receiving any remuneration;
• Persons enrolled full-time in a speech language therapy programme accredited by one of the signatory Associations of the Mutual Recognition of Credentials Agreement (2008).

The annual fee for 2012 is NZ$36.00 (including GST)

Non-Working Members

Individuals belonging to this category are those Speech-Language Therapists who are eligible to become Full Members, but will not be engaged in wage or salary earning activities as a Speech-Language Therapist during any part of the year. 

If paid work as an SLT is undertaken during the year then an upgrade to full membership should be notified to the Administrator and arrangements made for the additonal payment to become a full member.

The annual fee for 2012 is NZ$238 (including GST) 

Payment by instalments is also available.  Full information is available at Instalment payment amounts.

Associate Members

This category is for any person in an allied profession e.g. Audiology whose application is approved by the NZSTA.  Please contact the Administrator for details on how to apply.

The annual fee for 2012 is NZ$238 (including GST) 

Payment by instalments is also available.  Full information is available at Instalment payment amounts.

Life Membership

The Executive Council of the NZSTA may elect to confer life membership on suitably qualified persons. This is determined via evidence of outstanding service rendered to the profession of speech-language therapy and significant contribution to the Association during their years as a practising speech-language therapist. It is also a requirement that the nominated persons have held NZSTA membership for the majority of their practising years as a SLT in New Zealand (a minimum of at least 15 years applies).

Eligible persons must be nominated by one member of the Association and seconded by another in order to be considered for life membership. Nominations can be made at any time and these will be considered at the next scheduled Executive Council meeting. For full information on the criteria and process please click here.  To nominate a member for life membership the on-line form is available at life membership nomination but please read the criteria information first.

There is no annual fee for Life Members.

Honorary members

Honorary membership may be conferred on any individual who does not hold a qualification in Speech-Language Therapy, but have made an outstanding contribution to Speech-Language Therapy in New Zealand. Applications for honorary membership must be supported by a majority vote of the Executive Council.  Please apply to the Administrator.

There is no annual fee for Honorary Members.