Parliamentary Committees

Joint Committee on the Social Workers Registration Bill

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. T.A. Franks:

That the report of the committee be noted.

(Continued from 17 March 2021.)

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (18:12): I rise to make some remarks in support of this motion. As part of the Liberal Party's election platform, we committed to developing a system of registration for social workers and to advocate for social workers to be included under the national registration scheme with oversight from the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.

I note that the Australian Association of Social Workers have been advocates for a registration-based scheme and that they had an election forum prior to the election. From recollection, the Hon. Ms Franks attended that as well. I commend her for bringing forward the Social Workers Registration Bill 2018, which was introduced in September of that year.

The bill proposes to establish a framework for a state-based scheme and while the establishment of a national registration scheme with oversight from the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) was consistently favoured in submissions to the committee, given the limited appetite for a national scheme across jurisdictions at this time, a state-based approach was agreed by the committee as appropriate in the first instance.

The government agrees to in principle support for the findings of the joint committee's report and the Social Workers Registration Bill rather than pursuing separate legislation. We also intend to align with the existing AHPRA scheme to support consistency and facilitate the preference for a national model in alignment with an election commitment. The lead minister on this is the Minister for Child Protection through the relevant ministerial body.

Such an approach would take into account learnings outlined in the report from national and international comparators including the New Zealand registration scheme for social workers and the Australian registration scheme for paramedics. The agencies which have the largest cohort of social workers in their ranks, I think it is well known, is the Department for Health and Wellbeing and the Department for Child Protection, with some in other agencies such as education and human services and other agencies. We look forward to the continued dialogue on this matter and commend the motion to the house.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (18:15): I thank the minister for her contribution and also her ongoing engagement with this issue. I echo in this chamber the frustrations of the Australian Association of Social Workers in their 20-plus year campaign to have a registration scheme in this nation or in this state for social workers. It would come as a great surprise, I think, to most of the public that anyone can call themselves a social worker and that there is only a voluntary way of ensuring proper professional practice through the membership of the Australian Association of Social Workers, or that same requirement or eligibility for membership.

There are many workarounds to ensure that workers in this field are acting appropriately and when they do act inappropriately that they are called to account, but the reality is that right now there is nothing to stop anyone who has no qualifications or expertise in social work calling themselves a social worker, presenting as a social worker and, indeed, inflicting potential harm upon vulnerable people or, should they be qualified, should that harm also be inflicted, being called to account. It is high time that a parliament acted.

This report recommends that this parliament act. I hope the Marshall government will act. They certainly have given an indication that they are willing to take some leadership here. Everyone, I would imagine, who has looked at this scheme and made contributions—and there has been extensive work put in to support the report that comes back to this parliament—everyone would prefer a national scheme but a national scheme has not happened in over two decades, so if a national scheme cannot be made possible, a state scheme must be progressed by the Marshall government, and maybe a state scheme will be what makes that national scheme come into effect.

I commend the report to the council, but also thank not just the members of this committee but those members of the community who have worked countless hours to hopefully see social workers registered in the near future in our state and better outcomes for those vulnerable clients in particular.

Motion carried.