Country
In our view, the government most open about the language of lighter regulation (it promised "right-sized" regulation), and the one taking the most direct ministerial control of its regulators, through board appointments and a bill now on hold.
New Zealand's bill would let the Health Minister direct the health regulators on policy and let a ministerial committee overturn registration refusals. Parliament has since been dissolved for the November 2026 election.
Physician associates came under the Medical Council of New Zealand on 1 October 2026. Existing practitioners must apply by 30 November 2026.
No New Zealand reforms for this profession yet.
In Australia and Ontario, the route to the protected psychologist title is set to get shorter. New Zealand has created a registered assistant tier, and the UK assures a wider psychological workforce through voluntary registers. We have found no outcome evidence for any of it yet.
The strongest version of the argument for letting nurses, pharmacists and others do more, written from the reformers' own sources.
Where the idea came from, what it actually says, how governments use it, and the strongest criticisms. A primer in plain English.
Nothing written for this profession yet.
An opinion piece by Ian Powell, former executive director of ASMS, arguing New Zealand's HPCA Amendment Bill gives the Health Minister too much power over independent health regulators.
Why it matters: Captures what we see as the main criticism in New Zealand: political control of regulators, rather than lighter-touch regulation as such.
The New Zealand government's case for reform. It criticises 'unnecessarily high standards', long training and strict supervision, 'patch protection' and siloed regulators, and names associate psychologists among new professions it says regulators have been slow to adapt to, citing 'professional resistance or lack of direction from government'.
Why it matters: A strikingly direct statement of what the government believes is wrong with professional regulation. It mentions psychology once, naming associate psychologists as a new profession.
The Board approved a registered Psychology Assistant role with safeguards: no diagnosis, a focus on mild or less complex needs, mandatory supervision and team-only practice. It received 441 submissions.
Why it matters: New Zealand's first registered assistant tier in psychology. Its safeguards are specific enough to monitor.
A rapid review of the government's 2025 Putting Patients First proposals through the lens of equity and Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations.
Why it matters: A critique, published as a Viewpoint in the NZMJ, of the 2025 Putting Patients First proposals, focused on what they mean for Māori health and cultural safety.
No library items for this profession yet.