Social Worker - Rural Health

Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand; Ashburton; On-site; NZD 65,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Ashburton Hospital within Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is seeking a NZ Registered Social Worker to deliver high-quality social work across inpatient, outpatient and community services in the mid-Canterbury area.

You will assess and intervene for adults, children and families, supporting them to remain in their own environment where possible. A team-based, culturally aware approach is essential and graduates awaiting registration are welcome to apply.

Qualifications

• NZ Registered Social Worker with APC essential.
• Graduates in 2026 awaiting registration are welcome to apply.
• Provide high-quality Social Work services across inpatient, outpatient and community settings.

Responsibilities

• Provide assessment and intervention for adults, children and families to support them remaining in their own environment.
• Work within a multi-disciplinary team to deliver generalist social work across life span.
• Liaise with health providers to coordinate care.

Skills

Social Work

Interpersonal skills

Communication skills

Team collaboration

Education

NZ Registered Social Worker (APC)

Graduating in 2026 (awaiting registration)

Job description

• Useyour broad range of Social Work abilities to help within a talentedmulti-disciplinary team.
• Permanent full time position, 40 hours per week (1.0FTE)
• NZRegistered Social Worker with current APC is essential.However, those graduating in 2026 and awaiting registration are welcome to apply.

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is firmly grounded in theprinciples of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and is committed to building a health systemthat serves all New Zealanders.

About the Role

Ashburton Hospital provides a range of Inpatient, Daypatient, Outpatient and Community based health services to the wider mid-Canterbury community.The Hospital has 74 beds and annually admits around 5,000patients, cares for 2,600 day patients and 15,000 patients attend outpatientappointments.

Rural health services employ around 550 full time and parttime staff, which includes a clinical workforce in medicine, surgery andgynaecology, supported by nursing and allied health professionals withextensive experience in a wide range of clinical situations.

This role will involve providing Social Work to inpatient, outpatientand community services to Ashburton and Rural Health Service. You would be partof a small team of experienced Social Workers who work together to provide a generalistservice across the life span where no 2days will be the same.

In this role, you will be responsible for:

• Providinghigh-quality Social Work services which meets the needs of the inpatients,outpatients and community patients / clients of Mid Canterbury
• Providingevaluation, therapeutic and educational services to patients/clients ofAshburton
• Workingwithin a multi-disciplinary team and liaising with health providers

In this role, you will be responsible for providing assessment and intervention for adults, children and families with illness and/or disability to support them to remain in their own environment for as long as possible.

About You

We are seeking an enthusiastic Social Worker to join ourteam in this full time, permanent position.

Your skills will include:

• Adrive to ensure best health outcomes for people requiring Social Work services
• Theability to work within a team and contribute to the provision of highquality care
• Beingself-motivated, organised and enjoy a challenge
• Knowledge of te ao Māori, tikanga, and te reo Māori OR a commitment to startingyour journey and taking ownership of your learning and growth
• Stronginterpersonal and communication skills with the ability to build andnurture relationships with patients, their supports, colleagues andservice leaders

You will be a NZ Registered Social Worker with acurrent APC or a completing your degree in 2026 and awaiting registration

Working at Health New Zealand

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is dedicated to ensuringexcellent healthcare for the people of New Zealand. We embrace a workforce thatis diverse and inclusive so that we are better positioned to understand andservice our community.We welcome applications from our diverseMāori, Pacific, disabled, and rainbow communities.

To be eligible forthis role you must hold the legal right to work and live in New Zealand, if you do not hold the legal right to live andwork in New Zealand your application will be declined. We will be reviewing applications as received and may proceed with the recruitment process before the closing date of this advert.

Job details

Job Reference:

Job Reference: PC4526475

Location:

South Island - Canterbury - Ashburton

Job type:

Job type: Permanent Full time

Expertise:

Clinical - Allied Health - Social Worker