Field           Community and Social Services

Registration of skill standards, and review of unit standard 29523 for Health and Disability Principles in Practice

Subfield	Domain	ID
Health, Disability, and Aged Support	Health and Disability Principles in Practice	29523

Education, Health and Community Industry Skills Board has completed the review of unit standard 29523.

Date new versions published                                                                      June 2026

Planned review date                                                                                     December 2031

Summary

The Education, Health, and Community Industry Skills Board has completed the review of unit standard 29523 in March 2026. Consultation included industry representatives from Hospice New Zealand, Tōtara Hospice, Cranford Hospice, The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO), Careerforce, Metlifecare, the New Zealand Aged Care Association, Kalandra Education Group, New Zealand School of Vocational Education and Training, and My Skill, along with other industry stakeholders and subject matter experts in palliative care.

The review confirmed that the unit standard no longer adequately reflects the depth and complexity of palliative care practice undertaken by support roles in contemporary health and community settings. Industry consultation highlighted that support workers play a significantly expanded role in delivering person‑centred palliative care, supporting whānau and carers, and contributing to end‑of‑life practices.

As a result, unit standard 29523 has been replaced with skill standard 41327. The learning outcomes have been revised and expanded to better reflect current palliative care practice, including broader responsibilities for support workers. Two additional skill standards have also been developed to recognise distinct areas of practice within palliative care.

Main changes

• Unit standard 29523 has been expired and replaced with skill standard 41327.

• The credit value of replaced skill standard 41327 has increased from 8 to 10 to reflect the greater depth and complexity of skills required for palliative care practice.

• Skill standards 41328 and 41329 have been developed to recognise distinct areas of practice, that includes supporting the hauora of whānau and carers, and care of the deceased person (tūpāpaku).

Category C standard will expire on 31 December 2028

Impact on Consent and Moderation Requirements (CMR)

None

Detailed list of standards – classification, title, level, and credits

All changes are in bold.

Key to review category
A	Dates changed, but no other changes are made - the new version of the standard carries the same ID and a new version number
B	Changes made, but the overall outcome remains the same - the new version of the standard carries the same ID and a new version number
C	Major changes that necessitate the registration of a replacement standard with a new ID
D	Standard will expire and not be replaced

Community and Social Services > Health, Disability, and Aged Support > Health and Disability Principles in Practice

ID	Title	Level	Credit	Review Category
29523 41327	Apply a palliative care approach in a health or wellbeing setting Provide person-centred palliative care	4 4	8 10	C
41328	Support whānau and carers to maintain hauora within palliative care	4	5	New
41329	Provide respectful care for the deceased person across health and community settings	4	10	New