F.A.Q

When can I expect to receive my course once I have paid?

NZ postage fee is $12 – Once your order arrives, we email confirmation of your order then once payment is confirmed, which often takes 3 days. Once payment is confirmed your course material is sent through NZ Post with a delivery turnaround of within a week.

Australia – Up to 10 days with an additional postage fee of $20 NZD.

Other – All international orders vary in timeframe for delivery depending on the country purchased from. Please contact us beforehand to receive a shipping quote for your country.

How long will my course take to complete?

While our courses allow students to study at their own pace, in their own time, we have put together a general study guideline for each course. These are as follows:

Healthcare Courses:

Basic Natural Healthcare Course – 6 weeks

Basic Nutritional Healthcare Course – 6 weeks

Herbalism Courses:

Primary Traditional Herbal Certificate – 3-4 months

Senior Traditional Herbal Diploma – 5-6 months

Master Traditional Herbology Degree – 6-12 months

However please note that these are only general guidelines and there is no time limit for their completion.

Are the courses NZQA accredited? 

No, our education centre is not NZQA registered as this is a university registration that was launched in 1989 after the 1987 Education Act. Our education centre was launched in 1985 and was granted the ‘grandfather’ clause, after NZQA standards began, These days more private education centres do not have NZQA as it is no longer granted to educational facilities.

NZQA is only a New Zealand qualification and is not fully recognized internationally. We have expanded our horizons and have complied to the World Indigenous Commission, under the World Health Organisation, educational standard, given that the our tutors and director are Tohungas providing holistic educational training.

Am I covered under legislation?

Natural Therapists (including herbalists) have specific exemptions under the Medicines Act 1981 in recognition of their role. The effect of the exemption is to allow Natural Therapists to manufacture, pack, label, sell by retail, or supply certain natural medicines and herbs even when they have not been approved by the Minister of Health, providing they are supplied to an individual following a consultation with the practitioner.

What can Natural Therapists can do when operating under the section 32 exemption?

People wishing to practice natural medicine may do the following within the context of providing care to a patient:

  •  Obtain any general sale medicine on behalf of a patient or for subsequent supply to a patient following a consultation with that patient.
  •  Prepare, blend or formulate a general sale medicine on behalf of a patient or for supply to a patient following a consultation with that patient.
  •  Label products supplied to the patient under the exemption with information regarding the intended therapeutic use, providing that the label meets the requirements of the Medicines Regulations 1984.
  •  Display information sheets pertaining to the therapeutic use of ingredients or blends of ingredients (but not products) but not claim or state a cure.
  •  Display any general sale medicine (providing it is not labelled with intended therapeutic uses) and add the label describing the therapeutic use of the product following a consultation.
  •  Advertise the services they provide as long as the advertisement does not breach restrictions in section 58 of the Medicines Act 1981 that relate to advertisements for methods of treatment.
  • Provide specific information on a product to a patient providing that the information contained in it was discussed during a consultation with the patient.

Are your courses funded by WINZ?

They used to be until the WINZ funding criteria changed. To offset price issues, our philosophy of holistic principles enables us to offer the cheapest health correspondence courses in the country. Additionally, our courses can be paid off in installments (see below) with the total amount to be paid before your course is posted out to you.

Do you offer payment plans?

Yes, we do. Our goal is to make studying healthcare and herbalism as accessible as possible by offering payment by instalments with the full amount of your course costs needing to be received before your study material is posted out to you. There is no extra fees in paying by this method, simply phone or email us before hand to confirm our banking details and to receive yours.

Where can I purchase my herbal products from once qualified?

There are numerous companies supplying good herbal tinctures, seeds, capsules and teas products in NZ. These include:

NZ companies: Homeobotanical Herbal Energy, Harker Herbals, The Seed Warehouse, Artemis, Good Health Ltd, KiwiKitz, Heavenly Herbs, Self Heal to name a few.

International companies: Nature’s Sunshine Ltd, Natures’ Way, Solgar, Swisse herb products.

What organisation can I join once qualified?

The national body is Herb Federation of NZ.

We also encourage students to join their local herb society. The practitioner bodies are SNTR (Society of Natural Therapies & Researchers) and shortly the Natural Health Practitioners New Zealand Association.

What is a ‘consultation’?

A consultation is not defined in the Medicines Act 1981. Interaction between any practitioner and a patient is covered by the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers Rights 1996 made under the Health and Disability Commissioner Act 1994.

Are your courses available for New Zealand students only?

International students can enrol at any time – simply contact us to receive a shipping quote to your country.

I have previous natural health qualifications/experience. Am I able to enrol for the NZ Senior Traditional Herbal Diploma rather than beginning on the Primary level?

If you have  previous Herbal qualifications, then with the tutor’s approval you can go straight to the Senior Diploma Course. however we strongly recommend that you start with the NZ Primary Traditional Herbal Medicine Course, given the holistic content of our courses that builds upon each study level.

Don’t see your question answered here? Simply email us: janice@healthyoptions.co.nz