Membership
The New Zealand Healthcare Chaplaincy Association (NZHCA) is the peak professional body for healthcare chaplaincy in Aotearoa New Zealand and membership of the Association is complementary to membership of chaplaincy employing bodies. By becoming a member, you join a recognised community that is shaping the future of spiritual care in healthcare.
A key part of NZHCA’s role is advocacy, ensuring that chaplaincy and spiritual care is visible, valued, and well-resourced within the health system. The Association represents members in conversations with healthcare providers, government agencies, and professional bodies, making the case for chaplaincy as an essential dimension of holistic healthcare. This includes:
Championing the recognition of chaplaincy as an allied health profession with standards, training pathways, and the oversight of a professional body
Advocating for the chaplains / spiritual care practitioners' role in supporting patient, whānau, and staff wellbeing, as a member of the interdisciplinary team
Ensuring chaplaincy is included in policy discussions, workforce planning, and funding frameworks within New Zealand’s health system
Promoting the importance of equity and a commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi in shaping spiritually safe and culturally responsive care
Through this advocacy, members not only benefit from a stronger collective voice but also contribute to advancing the standing of chaplaincy nationally. Belonging to NZHCA means standing together to protect, promote, and strengthen the presence of chaplaincy in healthcare now and into the future.
There are five types of membership options to choose from:
Full membership with credentialing
Full member
Associate member
Honorary member - invitation only
Affiliate member
Interested in joining us?
The New Zealand Chaplains Association welcomes those called to chaplaincy and spiritual care and those who want to support this vital work. In becoming a member, you’ll join a network of people committed to spiritual wellbeing for all who call New Zealand home.
Credentialing
New Zealand Healthcare Chaplain's Association (NZHCA) offers credentialing through Spiritual Care Australia where practitioners are assessed against the Spiritual Care Australia Capabilities Framework. Members retain their membership of NZHCA and pay an additional credentialing fee on top of their full membership.
Benefits
The New Zealand and Australian spiritual care environment are changing, with the space contested both by other professions, and by competing understandings of requirements for roles. Increasingly, government, employment bodies and education providers are seeking agreed high-level standards from Chaplains / Spiritual Care practitioners.
The SCA Capabilities Framework offers a broad-based agreement on what constitutes a safe, professional practitioner, and being credentialed with SCA ensures you have been independently accredited to work at the level for which you are employed.
If you choose to become credentialed, employers, the public and your clients will know that you complete your work to the highest standard, and you are ensuring your work provides safe, professional person-centred care.
What is a Certified Spiritual Care Practitioner?
Credentialing looks at five domains of practice:
Provision of Care: Participates in the planning, delivery and management of evidence-based client care.
Collaborative Care: Builds and maintains effective working relationships and works in partnership with others.
Values-based Care: Recognises the complexity of spiritual and organisational systems and engages in processes and activities that promote safe, quality, effective services for all.
Professional Integrity: Acts in accordance with professional, ethical and legal standards.
Professional Development: Maintains and extends professional competence and contributes to the learning and development of others.
The four levels that can be achieved through credentialing:
Level One: Supervised Practitioner.
Level Two: Independent Practitioner.
Level Three: Senior Practitioner.
Level Four: Strategic Leadership Credentialing.
Spiritual Care certification by SCA is valued in many fields, and more and more industries are seeking the SCA certification for both employment and career advancement.
To register your interest in being credentialed please click the JOIN button at the top right of the page, enter your details and tick the 'Apply for Credentialling' box.