Accreditation and approval overview

What is it and who needs it?

Accreditation and approval is the result of a successful assessment against the Social Sector Accreditation Standards. If an organisation is accredited or approved, this shows that they can safely deliver social services to their community.

What is the difference between accreditation and approval?

Accreditation is for organisations that have an outcome agreement (contract) with one of our partner agencies. These contracts require organisations to be accredited at a certain level to receive government funding. Our partner agencies are:

Department of Corrections - Ara Poutama Aotearoa
Ministry for Pacific Peoples - Te Manatū mō ngā Iwi ō te Moana-nui-ā-Kiwa
Ministry of Housing and Urban Development - Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga
Ministry of Justice - Tāhū o te Ture
Ministry of Social Development - Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora
Oranga Tamariki - Ministry for Children

Approval is for organisations that are required by law to be approved to deliver specific services. Organisations that require approval are:

Out-of-school-care and recreation (OSCAR) providers
Intercountry adoption providers
Oranga Tamariki community service providers
Oranga Tamariki care partners*

*Approval is granted by Oranga Tamariki, however care partners are also required to hold level 1 accreditation from Te Kāhui Kāhu.

Refer to our gaining accreditation or approval page for more information on who is eligible and the different types of providers we work with.

Gaining accreditation or approval

Who pays for assessments?

We do not charge organisations for our assessment services. We are funded by our partner agencies that require the accreditation or approval.

The standards

The standards set the minimum expectations organisations must meet to become accredited or approved.

There are two different types of standards:

Social Sector Accreditation Standards (SSAS)
specialist standards

The SSAS are the core standards that apply to organisations that need to obtain, or maintain, accreditation or approval. The specialist standards only apply to organisations that offer specific services or programmes, or need to follow certain legal requirements.

Each standard is made up of a number of criteria. We use these criteria to assess whether organisations are meeting the standards.

Guidance is provided to explain what organisations need to do to meet each of the criteria. The guidance includes requirements, additional information, tips and links to resources.

Social Sector Accreditation Standards

Specialist standards

The levels

The Social Sector Accreditation Standards have four levels. We assign an appropriate level to a service using a risk-based model which considers the type of service being provided and the needs of the people using it.

The level a service is assigned determines which core standards apply. Level 1 is the highest level on our framework and is for the highest risk services, Level 4 is the lowest.

Which standards apply to each level varies:

Core standards	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
Client-centred services	✅	✅	✅	✅
Community wellbeing	✅	✅	✅	❌
Cultural competence	✅	✅	❌	❌
Staffing	✅	✅	✅	✅
Health and safety	✅	✅	✅	✅
Governance and management structure and systems	✅	✅	✅	✅
Financial management and systems	✅	✅	✅	✅
Resolution of complaints related to service provision	✅	✅	✅	✅
Quality improvement	✅	✅	✅	❌
Client services and programmes	ℹ️*	✅	✅	❌

*This standard only applies to Level 1 providers who also deliver Level 2 or 3 services. If you only deliver Level 1 services, Oranga Tamariki will assess this standard as part of their care partner approval process.

What level you require

It’s our job to make sure we assess your services at the correct level.

If you’re an accredited provider, your contract will usually state what level you need. For approved providers, it depends on the reason for your approval and what services you deliver.

OSCAR providers require level 3
Intercountry adoption providers require level 2
Oranga Tamariki community service providers typically require level 2
Oranga Tamariki care partners require level 1

If you have multiple contracts or deliver multiple different services, you’ll be assessed at the highest level you require for the services you deliver.

All providers are usually assessed at least every two years, except intercountry adoption providers, where an assessment must occur every 12 months. Level 1–3 assessments include a site visit, but level 4 assessments do not.

Assessment outcomes

After we complete your assessment, we'll send you a report with the outcome. The possible outcomes are:

Application declined
Critical actions
Accredited with required actions
Accredited

Application declined means your initial application didn’t meet the required standards, so we can’t grant accreditation or approval.

Critical actions is a temporary outcome. It means we can't confirm your accreditation or approval until you fix serious issue within a set timeframe. If you don’t fix them, we may decline your application (for initial assessments) or suspend/revoke your accreditation or approval (for review assessments). See our removing accreditation or approval page for more information.

Removing accreditation or approval

Accredited with required actions means you’ve gained or maintained accreditation or approval, but you have some issues to fix before your next scheduled review.

Accredited means your accreditation or approval has been successfully gained or maintained.

About the assessment report

The assessment report includes information about the outcome of your assessment. It shows which standards you’ve met, which standards you haven’t met, and what actions you need to take, if any. There are three types of actions:

Critical actions

raised for an unacceptable level of risk
accreditation/approval is not confirmed until you fix the issues
you are given up to 30 working days to fix the issue.

Required actions

raised for a potential risk that must be fixed
accreditation/approval is confirmed, provided issues are fixed by your next scheduled review.

Recommended actions

suggestions to strengthen your practice
choosing not to implement them will not affect your accreditation or approval.

Appealing an assessment

If you disagree with our assessment findings, let us know within 10 working days of receiving it. Contact the assessor directly or email us at accreditation@tekahuikahu.govt.nz. We will consider your request before contacting you.