ANZASW Supervision Strategy

ANZASW Supervision Strategy 
 

We’re pleased to be able to share with you the ANZASW Supervision Strategy. 

We have developed this sector-wide Social Work Supervision Strategy to support lifting the quality of social work supervision in Aotearoa New Zealand. This has been developed with input from members and others across the sector. 

Read the ANZASW Supervision Strategy

View the Supervision Strategy Launch Recording

 

Why have we developed this strategy? 

ANZASW has a strong history of leading policy and practice recommendations for social work supervision in Aotearoa New Zealand. As an organisation, we have been the authors of multiple national supervision policies.  

Since 2009, both the Social Workers Registration Board (SWRB) and ANZASW had different supervision policies, with the SWRB policy applying to registered social workers and the latter to ANZASW members. With the introduction of mandatory registration for social workers in 2021, the need for a joined-up approach to professional requirements for supervision rather than two policy statements became evident.  

Upon speaking with the sector, we found that experiences of social work supervision and adherence to existing policy settings vary. We identified the need to explore and seek to address the drivers behind this variance, some of which we hypothesised sat outside of the supervision policy settings. Subsequently, we found that innovative solutions and a paradigm shift are needed to achieve the aims of any future supervision policy. It is for this reason, we decided to develop this strategy to strengthen the quality of social work supervision in Aotearoa. 

 

Who is this strategy for? 

Lifting the quality of social work supervision will require a collective effort from social workers, supervisors, employers (including managers), professional bodies and our regulator, funders, and educators.  

 
What changes are there? 

We want to lift the quality of social work supervision for all social workers. Drawing on the Pā Harakeke model, we articulate different roles and responsibilities that supervision plays in supporting social workers. 
Our proposed approaches consider the needs of both social workers and the sector, including: 

  • Awareness raising – getting everyone on the same page about the importance of social work supervision. 
     
  • Capacity Building – building our social work supervisor workforce, especially by removing barriers for Māori and Pasifika. Supporting supervisors by creating opportunities to network and share practice. 
     
  • Relationships and advocacy – breaking down some of the wider barriers to accessing social work supervision, such as funding, workloads, and organisational structure. This is best achieved through partnering across the sector and building relationships. 
     
  • Recommended policy changes – proposing changes to the policy settings for social workers which support quality social work supervision, as backed up by evidence and experience. 

 

What are the next steps? 

ANZASW will produce an annual implementation plan to accompany the Supervision Strategy. It will be available here once developed. 

The implementation plan should demonstrate the application of He Awa Whiria, consistent with the guiding framework of this strategy. This will ensure actions which work towards achieving equity for Tangata-ō te Whenua and Tangata-ō te Moana in the supervision space are identified and prioritised. 

Initially, activities will focus on things which ANZASW can lead, but may, with the collaboration of partner agencies, grow to include projects or changes led and directed by other relevant organisations. 

We anticipate initial implementation activities will include: 

  • Professional development content 
  • Guidance and resources around social work supervision 
  • Establishing communities of learning for supervisors 
  • Partnerships with iwi, Kaupapa Māori and Pasifika providers to support social workers wanting to grow into supervisory practice 
  • Continued wider advocacy to improve conditions for social workers which will enable a practice environment where supervision is valued and supported. 
  • Collaborative working with partners, particularly SWRB on sector-wide responses. 


What happened with my feedback? 

We received feedback from over 100 social workers, supervisors and organisations on our draft Strategy back in 2023. Ka rawe! - thank you so much for letting us know what you thought. 

As a result of your feedback, some changes have been made to the final published version.  

You can read about these changes, our engagement process, and a summary of feedback themes in our feedback summary document. 

Feedback Summary

 

Supplementary documents 

For those who would like to view shortened versions of the Supervision Strategy to share with others, and/or the evidence base behind our recommendations, two additional papers are available below. 

Executive Summary

Policy Options Analysis