Social Work Registration: Another Opportunity for Discussion

ABSTRACT

The Social Workers Registration Bill 2018 is before the Parliament of South Australia. It makes provision to establish a social worker registration board with powers to investigate complaints and enforce penalties for breach of competency and ethical standards. This paper presents an argument for the national registration of social workers; and in addition, outlines key considerations for thinking about risk, protection, safeguarding, and implementation that comes with registration.

IMPLICATIONS

• Risk and protection need to be assessed as part of a more comprehensive regulatory framework in the debates of registration.

• If registration is to become part of the regulation of social work, a national approach to social worker registration is indicated, so that a person deregistered in one state cannot be employed as a social worker in another.

• Social worker registration is a potentially useful formal mechanism that offers both a protective safeguard (social worker status) and a corrective safeguard (limiting or de-registering).

社会工作者注册法案于2018年提交给南澳议会，以为成立一个社会工作者注册委员会做准备，该委员会有权调查投诉并对不具备能力和不符合伦理标准的情况作出处罚。笔者赞成全国社会工作者注册，并简述了伴随注册而来的风险、保护以及实施所需要思考的关键内容。

KEYWORDS:

• Registration
• Regulatory Framework
• Intentional Safeguards

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Sarah Wendt http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1006-0299