For your first weeks as a caregiver or support worker: who does what, people's rights, dignity, whānau, noticing and reporting changes, home visits and speaking up.
It is your second shift. A workmate hands you a care plan, points down the corridor and says, "You're right to start with Ngaire, aren't you?" This course explains the ideas behind moments like that: who does what, what rights people have while you support them, how to notice and report a change, how to stay safe on home visits, and when to stop and ask.
Your employer's induction and hands-on sign-off come first. They teach and check the real tasks in your real workplace, and no online course can do that. Formal Health and Wellbeing qualifications are a separate pathway, through a training provider. This course is background for your first weeks. It counts toward neither of them, and it has no pay-equity value.
You can study and sit the assessment free, with no account. The Health and Disability Commissioner, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, Te Pou, HealthCERT and the Aged Care Association also offer learning, linked on this page, and you may prefer it. If your employer requires workplace health and safety training, ask whether they provide or fund it before purchasing this optional certificate. Pay only if you pass and want our certificate for your own records.
Anyone can check a certificate on our verification page using its ID or QR code. More about the certificate.
No. Your employer's induction and hands-on sign-off come first, whatever other training you have done. Each employer decides what other training it accepts, so ask before you buy anything. You can study and sit the assessment here free before deciding.
No. It gives no pay-equity step, no credits and no equivalence. Health New Zealand says qualification-based pay equity needs the actual Health and Wellbeing qualification or one already assessed as equivalent. Ask your employer what help it offers toward those qualifications.
Ask your employer first. The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 says a business must not charge a worker for anything done or provided for health and safety. If your employer requires workplace health and safety training, ask whether they provide or fund it before purchasing this optional certificate. Study and the assessment here are free, and the optional certificate costs NZ$34.90. This awareness course does not replace workplace-specific training or induction.
No. It covers attitude, rights, reporting and knowing when to ask. Those tasks need hands-on training and sign-off from your employer. If you are asked to do something you have not been shown, say so and ask for help.
It can be useful background. Health New Zealand says a provider employing a whānau carer will provide training and support, so ask your provider first what it offers. Your mother has the same rights under the Code as anyone else.
Tell your supervisor, or use another route such as HR if your supervisor is involved. WorkSafe says a business cannot take negative steps against you for raising a health and safety concern. Your union or a health and safety representative can help. For serious wrongdoing, the Ombudsman gives guidance on the Protected Disclosures (Protection of Whistleblowers) Act 2022.
The lessons are original summaries of these sources. For your own situation, the source is what counts.
Version 1.1.1, last checked 2026-11-03. Approved for publication by our editor on 2026-11-09. Not reviewed by an external professional. How we check our content.
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Write to support@steadyhand.co.nz and a person will answer. Who runs this site.
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