Mental health and psychology

How to become a rehabilitation counsellor

Official title: Rehabilitation counsellor

Also called: Rehabilitation specialist, Vocational rehabilitation counsellor, Rehabilitation adviser, Prison welfare worker, Rehabilitation therapist, Trauma counsellor

Rehabilitation counsellors help people with personal, social and vocational disabilities to live independently. They may develop programmes for people in care facilities.

Main tasks

Help disabled people live and work independently
Give clients techniques and tools to succeed
Help people recover from injury
Develop treatment plans with clients
Assess homes and workplaces for potential problems
Monitor treatment progress
Refer clients to educational and work programmes
Discuss solutions with family members

How to become one

You usually need a qualification to become a rehabilition counsellor and experience may be useful. You usually need NCEA Level 3 to do the study or training for this job. Required: to pass a police check. Other requirements: a relevant tertiary qualification in rehabilitation therapies, human welfare or similar area; a New Zealand Certificate in Health and Wellbeing (Rehabilitation Support) (Level 4); experience in similar work; to be registered with the New Zealand Association of Counsellors; a driver licence.

See the full Tahatū profile

Ways in

University: Allied Health degrees, Offered by 4 universities in New Zealand
University: Social Work & Community degrees, Offered by 3 universities in New Zealand

Pay · Past change · AI and this job

Most common pay: $86,912 to $106,564 a year (median $96,738), a TEC estimate before tax.
Lower: $77,087 a year · Upper: $116,390 a year
TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Strong increase (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
People employed in the group Counsellors: 5,223 at the 2018 Census and 5,607 at the 2023 Census (+7.4%). Past change, not a forecast.
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

About 650 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
In the group Counsellors, 75% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
Where people in the group Counsellors work (2023 Census): Auckland 33.6%, Canterbury 13.4%, and Wellington 11.1%.

Questions people ask

How do I become a rehabilitation counsellor?

How much does a rehabilitation counsellor earn in New Zealand?

The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $96,738 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $86,912 to $106,564 a year.

Has the number of people working as a rehabilitation counsellor grown in New Zealand?

It has grown strongly: TEC records a strong increase in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.

Will AI change the work of a rehabilitation counsellor?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census totals by topic for individuals 2013, 2018, 2023 (CEN23_TBT_004): employed by occupation, ANZSCO V1.3, summed to unit group (2023 Census (CEN23_TBT_004)), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census 2023: employed by regional council, occupation (ANZSCO V1.3 unit group) and sex at birth (2023 Census), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.

Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.

This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.

Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.

These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Updated 4 October 2026