Who can be accredited

To be eligible for accreditation, your organisation needs to meet certain criteria.

To check your organisation is eligible please complete the Eligibility Check form

We will check that the information you provide meets the eligibility criteria and confirm your eligibility within 10 working days. If eligible, we will send your organisation an invitation to complete the application process.

Eligibility criteria for accreditation

To be eligible for accreditation, your organisation must meet at least one of the following conditions:

• have a contract, or negotiating to deliver social services for one (or more) of the following government agencies:
  • 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

• provide inter-country adoption services
• provide out of school care and recreation programmes (OSCAR), or
• be a community service provider for the purposes of the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989.

Additional Criteria for OSCAR programmes

OSCAR programmes must also meet additional criteria around:

• site/venue
• fees, and
• hours of operation.

Site/venue

Accreditation is site-specific. If your organisation operates OSCAR programmes out of more than one site, we need to know all the locations for these.

Sites do not include places visited from time to time for activities.

Fees

OSCAR programmes must receive income from parent/caregiver fees or contributions.

Hours of operation

Please note:

• OSCAR programmes must operate Monday - Friday
• OSCAR programmes must operate from the same venue.

For specific OSCAR programme types, see additional criteria below.

Before School

If your organisation's hours of operation are before school, it must operate:

• within the hours: 6:30am – 9:00am.

After School

If your organisation's hours of operation are after school, it must operate:

• between the hours: 2:30pm –7:00pm
• for a minimum of 2 hours each afternoon.

You must also care for children from the time that school finishes. Accreditation will not be given if your organisation starts at a later time.

Holiday Programmes

If your organisation's hours of operation are for a holiday programme, it must operate:

• for at least 4 weeks per year (at least one week within each school holiday period)
• within the hours: 6:30am –7:00pm.