Entry Criteria
Medical standards
All recruits are required to have a thorough medical assessment (including a questionnaire, examination, eyesight and hearing tests) before they are accepted for military training and service. Candidates with pre-existing health conditions may be required to provide reports from medical specialists (at their own expense), so that their suitability for military service can be assessed. In general, all recruits need to have good eyesight (with or without spectacles or contact lenses), normal colour vision, and good hearing.
Physical fitness
At the time they join, all recruits are expected to be fit enough to undertake vigorous physical activity such as running, marching, tramping, press-ups, and sport on a daily basis. The navy has a fitness programme available which is designed to gradually physically train and prepare new recuits prior to entry.
The standard Navy fitness test involves sprinting for seven minutes, and 10 press-ups, and all recruits must pass this test before they can complete their training.
NZ Citizenship, Criminal Record and Security Clearances
The Royal New Zealand Navy requires all uniformed personnel to hold a security clearance. The Security Intelligence Service (SIS) investigates to determine whether or not an individual is suitable. Part of this process involves referees, who must have known the candidate for at least five years.
Referees must be contactable by the SIS (in the case of NZ based referees) or equivalent agencies in other countries (for foreign referees). New Zealand has reciprocal arrangements with the UK, USA, Canada and Australia in this regard. This effectively means that referees must be either from these countries or from New Zealand.
Candidates also must be (or be eligible to become) NZ Citizens (as opposed to Residents) in order to hold a security clearance, although non-NZ citizens who have been in NZ less than five years may be eligible providing they are (or have been) citizens of UK, Canada, Australia or USA for a period 10 years or more.
Generally if a candidate meets the above security vetting requirements they will also meet the citizenship criteria. It should be noted that the eligibility period for persons who received permanent residence on or after 21 April 2005 is now five years (it was previously three).
A Police Records Check is also undertaken on all candidates. Generally a conviction on any offence involving dishonesty, theft or violence will automatically result in a stand down period of at least one year from the date the sentence handed down by the court is completed.
This includes (but is not limited to) offences involving drugs, arson, robbery, shoplifting, car conversion, wilful damage, dangerous driving, breach of periodic detention or use of cannabis. Stand down periods for some offences are greater than a year, and certain crimes will result in a candidate never being eligible to join (typically these crimes involve imprisonment).
Note that any loss of driver's licence will result in a stand-down period of one year from when the licence is reinstated. The Armed Services are exempt from the 'Clean Slate Act'; therefore any offence, including those awarded Diversion, will be considered when making a decision on an individual's suitability to be enlisted in the RNZN.
If you think that a career in the Navy could be for you, please contact recruiting.
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