Members must meet certification requirements

At the recent Annual General Meeting, members passed two remits that fundamentally change membership of the Association and attest to NZHHA's commitment to the provision of quality home and community support services.

The AGM of NZHHA was held at the Holiday Inn, Auckland on 3 September, the third day of the 2010 NZHHA Conference. 

The first remit embedded changes to the Constitution arising from a decision made at the 2009 AGM to create two categories of provider membership: Full members who are certificated to the Home and Community Support Sector Standard (NZS 8158:2003), and Associate members, who are not certificated.    The Affiliate membership category also remains.

The second motion was to limit the lifespan of the Associate category to 30 June 2012.  This means that from 1 July 2012 only provider organisations who are certificated to the Home and Community Support Sector Standard may apply for or retain membership of the Association.  The majority of Association members are currently certificated, the 'grandparenting' arrangement allows all members to gain certification by that date.

The Association has shown leadership in strongly advocating for mandatory standards in home and community support.  Only by having such standards can funder and provider organisations ensure greater consistency and quality in the delivery of services to clients.