Abstract This study investigated how experienced supervisors understand the matter of supervisor responsibility, and the effects of that understanding for supervision prac- tice. The study was developed as part of the curriculum content of a graduate paper in supervision: one purpose was the professional education of the researchers, while the second was to promote discussion within the local profession about supervision practices, in the absence of a New Zealand literature. Nine experienced supervisors, located throughout New Zealand, were interviewed for the study. Results suggest that while participants were prepared to be account- able and responsible for their own work as supervisors, they differed in respect of their views on supervisors’ responsibility for counsellors’ practice and for clients. Clear, negotiated agreements were seen to be central to the exercise of responsibility. Ideas about locating responsibility within networks of practice were reflected in supervisors’ willingness to supervise new counsellors. Introduction Since supervision is increasingly called on as assurance of the quality of counselling, it seems important to ask how supervisors in New Zealand understand the responsi- bility they take up in their work in supervision. The international literature offers widely disparate constructions of supervisors’ responsibilities, both those they exercise in supervision itself and those they take for counsellors’ work. In the UK, King and Wheeler argued that “the extent of supervisory responsibility is unclear ethically, legally and practically” (1999, p. 227). For example, senior supervisors in their study reported reluctance to invoke the British Association for Counselling and Psycho- therapy (BACP) complaints procedure. At the same time they were reluctant to supervise those new to the profession or those unknown to them. Significantly, King and Wheeler suggested that without more clarity about supervisory responsibility, the profession cannot assume supervision offers assurance of the quality of counselling. 2 Responsibility in Counselling Supervision in New Zealand: An Exploratory Study of Supervisor Perspectives Kathie Crocket, Desmond Cooper, John Crockett, Jill Elder, Paul Flanagan, Peter Horide, Susan Mortlock, Glen Silvester, Wendy Talbot, Carol White 18 NZ Journal of Counselling 2004 18 NZ Journal of Counselling 2004