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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-11-16 Daily Xml
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Bills

Social Workers Registration (Commencement) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

The Hon. K.A. HILDYARD (Reynell—Minister for Child Protection, Minister for Women and the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (12:07): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I am really proud to bring to the house today the Social Workers Registration (Commencement) Amendment Bill 2023. This bill amends the Social Workers Registration Act 2021. This act was assented to on 9 December 2021. As members would be aware, the introduction of a social worker registration scheme was supported by both major political parties in South Australia and also by the Greens. I do note the presence in the gallery of the Hon. Tammy Franks, who has been an absolute champion of this registration scheme and was instrumental in ensuring the bill progressed in our last parliament.

It was supported because the registration of social workers will have a range of very important benefits for the thousands of remarkable social workers in our state, those who seek to practise in South Australia and our broader community. A registration scheme will provide important opportunities for improved professional development, for the profession to collectively contemplate and engage in structured learning about the emerging issues that they tackle, improve public safety and create enhanced standards of conduct and accountability through the provision of accessible mechanisms for complaints and review.

Social workers are utterly extraordinary. They are highly committed professionals who choose to make a difference every single day with and for South Australian individuals, families and communities. It can be incredibly hard and sometimes heartbreaking work that they undertake, and I acknowledge their dedication.

It is often social workers who walk alongside people at their most difficult moments, helping them to traverse new pathways and helping them to know that they are not alone. As families contemplate increasingly complex and interconnected issues, we see social workers navigating new and, again, sometimes heartbreaking spaces, with compassion and determination.

When people are experiencing particular difficulties, there is often a range of different points of interaction through awareness of particular issues, prevention of particular issues, intervention, healing and recovery. At every single stage, at every point of interaction, social workers are the people who are there, lifting people up, enabling them to live, to move forward through their particular time of trouble with dignity and, again, with that sense of knowing that they are not alone.

Throughout my many years of work alongside social workers, and through proudly representing them through the Australian Services Union, I have had the pleasure of engaging with and, indeed, becoming great friends with many of the incredible people practising social work: in domestic violence shelters, youth organisations, homeless shelters, health, education, schools; and a range of other settings—in small and large charitable and non-government organisations.

I was thinking about a number of those people when I was contemplating this bill. I was thinking about the work that we did together to improve their pay and conditions through recognising the fundamental value of their work to our community, our state and our nation. I was also thinking about the need to ensure a sustainable social work workforce, to be there into the future with and for some of the most vulnerable members of our community.

I sat with so many social workers throughout this time and particularly through our landmark equal pay case and campaign. Over and over again, through that case and campaign I asked groups of social workers why they choose to do the work that they do. Without exception, 100 per cent of them articulated that they were social workers because they cared about people, because they wanted to empower people to live their best lives, to be there for them at their hardest moments, encouraging them to contemplate safer, brighter, hopeful futures.

When I discussed campaigning for equal pay with them—equal pay for the incredible work that they undertake—those workers generally decided to be part of the campaign for selfless reasons through a desire to ensure a sustainable workforce, able to be there with people for generations to come. Rarely did they become involved solely for improvements to pay. This desire to have a sustainable wage, and a sustainable sector, was also always about being able to stay in the community sector and keep supporting people needing a hand.

Within the Department for Child Protection, across the child protection and family support system, its government agencies and non-government organisation partners, thousands of social workers work with and for children and families who face deeply interconnected issues: poverty, intergenerational trauma, domestic violence, mental ill health, substance misuse—families who face some of the most challenging circumstances any of us in this place could possibly imagine.

These workers are absolutely extraordinary and, as I visit their workplaces across our state and hear about their experiences, I again hear stories of selflessness, compassion, relentless care and a desire to be that person who helps make people's and particularly children's and young people's lives better.

At our recent Child Protection and Family Support Symposium, we spoke together as a community at length about the importance of the social worker profession and the positive impact social workers have on children, young people and their families. Similar stories characterised the drive of the social workers engaged in health and wellbeing, disability, education and other settings.

I am so proud that South Australia is the first jurisdiction to progress the establishment of a registration scheme, and the rightful recognition it will bring to the social worker profession. Striving for high professional standards and rightful recognition in social work through this scheme speaks to our parliament's and our whole state's regard, very high regard, for the commitment and expertise involved in this profession.

To ensure that the foundations for the scheme are properly laid, prior to the commencement of this act, the bill that I bring to the house today seeks to defer the legislation's commencement date to 1 July 2025, unless fixed earlier by proclamation. This will ensure an operational registration scheme is in place at the time the act commences.

The Social Workers Registration (Commencement) Amendment Bill 2023 seeks simply to amend two sections of the Social Workers Registration Act 2021: firstly, to replace section 2 to defer commencement of the act to 1 July 2025, unless fixed earlier by proclamation; and, secondly, to make a consequential amendment to section 68 to ensure that the opportunity to create transitional provisions via regulation remains under the act as amended.

To establish, oversee, develop and implement this important scheme, I am absolutely thrilled that Professor Sarah Wendt—who is with us in the gallery today—a social work expert and someone who is regarded around the world with an incredibly strong national and international reputation, as of 18 September has commenced in the role as director for the social work registration scheme. Professor Wendt's extensive background and understanding in the areas of violence against women, child abuse and neglect, and social work practice will be absolutely integral to her role as director.

I have greatly admired and also been very inspired for many, many years by Professor Wendt's intellect, her deep commitment to growing awareness about the issues that our community confronts, and by her lifelong compassion for those our community most needs to walk alongside. Thank you, Professor Wendt.

Professor Wendt will be responsible for the development and implementation of the scheme, including recruiting staff, engaging a registrar, and facilitating the appointment of the board. As director, she will build on the stakeholder engagement work, including at a national level with the Australian Association of Social Workers and other jurisdictions, which has been undertaken by the Department for Child Protection over the past 12 to 18 months.

Professor Wendt will work closely with the many different representations of social work across government and non-government agencies to implement the scheme in a staged approach. The amendment bill will also make, as I mentioned, a consequential amendment to section 68 of the act to ensure that the transitional regulation-making power of the principal act is maintained in the act as it is amended. These transitional provisions are important as they enable the registration scheme to be introduced using that staged approach, which was always intended under the scheme's implementation plan. Additionally, the staged implementation approach will prioritise systems and structures consistent with a future potential national approach.

I am very proud that to support the establishment of the scheme, the now government has committed $4.7 million over four years. This funding sits alongside our increased investment into the child protection and family support system that equates to an additional $372 million since coming to government. Investments into staffing include $4 million for an additional seven full-time equivalent staff to undertake additional kinship care assessments. This will help to ensure that kinship placements are explored thoroughly for children and young people to support them in keeping strong connections with family, community and culture.

There has also been an additional $2.1 million invested over four years to increase rightly the capacity for family reunification services to safely reunite children and young people with their family. I have also tasked the department to develop a child protection and family support sector workforce strategy to ensure that a strategic targeted approach is taken to the delivery of appropriate staffing levels across the sector.

As part of the development of this strategy, the department is engaging with stakeholders across child protection and family support, across different levels of government and internally to futureproof our workforce and provide strategies to address systemic workforce challenges experienced widely in modern human services organisations right around the globe. Our government has also committed funding to the recruitment of an extra 42 social workers with a focus on officers experiencing the highest demand. This commitment has rightly been realised.

I am really looking forward to the role that the registration scheme will have in further supporting the development of the workforce and the social worker profession. The preferred long-term approach in South Australia was and remains a national registration scheme, which I understand is also the preference of the Australian Association of Social Workers. Whilst insufficient cross-jurisdictional support exists for a national scheme at this moment, it will be important that the South Australian scheme is implemented in a way that positions it potentially for transition to a national approach at a later stage should one subsequently be adopted.

Again, social workers are extraordinarily committed professionals who work to make a difference every day with and for South Australian families and communities. It can be incredibly hard and heartbreaking work, and again I acknowledge social workers' deep commitment. This simple bill that we progress today ensures that an effective and appropriate foundation is laid for the scheme ahead of the commencement of the original act.

In closing, I thank all who have worked towards the progress of this bill, and particularly Alex from the Department for Child Protection for her work on developing it and progressing it today. I commend this bill to the chamber and seek leave to insert the explanation of clauses into Hansard without my reading it.

Leave granted.

Explanation of Clauses

Part 1—Preliminary

1—Short title

This clause is formal.

Part 2—Amendment of Social Workers Registration Act 2021

2—Substitution of section 2

This clause amends section 2 of the principal Act to disapply section 27(6) of the Legislation Interpretation Act 2021 in relation to the commencement of the principal Act, the operation of which would have seen the Act automatically commencing on the second anniversary of its assent. Section 2 as amended will instead provide that the principal Act will commence on 1 July 2025, unless commenced earlier by proclamation.

3—Amendment of section 68—Regulations and fee notices

This clause makes a consequential amendment to the transitional regulation making power in section 68 of the principal Act to reflect the amendment made by this measure.

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (12:24): I rise to indicate that the opposition supports the bill. I will be the lead speaker and I will be brief. I just make the passing observation that we are here legislating and, sure, a bill that has the title Social Workers Registration (Commencement) Amendment Bill might present an occasion to talk about all the virtues of social workers and indeed the important work towards the implementation of the scheme.

But let's be really clear about it: it is passing risible that the minister stands here proud of introducing a bill whose sole purpose is to implement a delay of 18 months on the implementation of the scheme. That is the sole purpose of the bill. Let's just be plain about it.

Sometimes it is more edifying if the government comes into this place and says, 'Alright, we have encountered a few bumps in the road and we haven't really got to where we really meant to, and yes we've provided a bit of funding and we're still committed to what was laid out, very much driven by the former minister, Minister Sanderson in the Marshall Liberal government, and in the course of the work of the committee that was chaired by the Hon. Tammy Franks—

The Hon. K.A. Hildyard interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The minister will stop interrupting.

Mr TEAGUE: I was proud to be—

The Hon. K.A. Hildyard interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Minister, you will have a chance to have your say.

Mr TEAGUE: I was proud to be a member of the committee that did that work, and I note that the minister has imparted upon the house this sort of I think what the minister has described in the past as a soliloquy in relation to social workers and the importance of the registration scheme, and all the rest of it. Let's face it, here we are: social workers, let alone anybody else who follows debate in this place, would be edified at least to understand that the whole purpose of us being here, contemplating this very brief bill, is to recognise that this has not occurred on time and that the government needs another 18 months in order to get it done.

In terms of the timetable that was set, what occurred over recent years—let's be clear—was a cooperative, committed process through what was a particularly thoroughgoing committee process that members might well have the opportunity to remind themselves of and which was engaging with social workers from both Australia and New Zealand and indeed comparing the work of social workers, including their registration schemes, throughout the world. As a member of that committee, I can just indicate to the house that that was important and thoroughgoing work to traverse the landscape to do something novel.

I am the first to recognise—again, let's just be clear and straightforward and merits driven—that we are doing something in South Australia that would benefit from being part of a national scheme. The national process is not there yet; we might have heard something about that from the minister if we were having some information about where we are at. The steps forward in South Australia to do this important work are not only supported by the opposition but, of course, the opposition when in government was very much at the lead. I share in recognising the—

The Hon. K.A. Hildyard interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Minister, I would prefer not to have to warn you or ask you to leave the chamber, okay?

Mr TEAGUE: I share in recognising the important work of the Hon. Tammy Franks MLC, and I was very glad to have the opportunity to work together with the Hon. Tammy Franks MLC on that committee, as I was—and rather unusually, too, I might say—to have a then minister participating as a member of the committee, so committed was Minister Sanderson to exploring this process.

Really and truly, we are all here, I hope, in a mature environment in which our job here in the parliament is to legislate. Okay, so if it is necessary to legislate for the delay, let's do it. We will support it, and I am glad to hear that there has at least been, and I welcome, the appointment of Professor Wendt. That was welcome news, coming as it did just on 18 September this year.

There is no doubt about the leading credentials of Professor Wendt, and I think the involvement and the leadership of Professor Wendt in this space will be, I am sure, essential to ensuring we are not back here some time in 2025 saying, 'Hang on, it's still a bit too hard, and we're going to keep on delaying and deferring.'

I do not know what happens from here in terms of a debate on this bill. We might hear from government members coming along extolling the virtues of social workers and providing their observations about what social workers do and so on. Sure, take that opportunity. Of course, social workers do the most valuable and among the most challenging work in the community—absolutely.

But let's actually do them the service of an edifying process in terms of the parliament to say, 'We are going about the process of implementing a registration scheme; it has not happened yet. The government seeks an additional 18 months within which to do it. Let's keep a close eye on how that progresses.' I offer my assistance against the background of not only my responsibility as shadow minister but my relatively thoroughgoing involvement as a member of that particular committee.

Towards that end, I commend the speedy passage of the bill through this place and, much more importantly, the compliance with the timetable that this bill would now provide towards the implementation of a social workers registration scheme in this state.

Ms WORTLEY (Torrens) (12:30): I rise to speak briefly to the Social Workers Registration (Commencement) Amendment Bill 2023. In doing so, I want to place on record some comments from a social worker who I was speaking to only last night. Gurpreet is a social worker, and she is currently completing her Master of Social Work. Gurpreet told me how pleased she is about the introduction of registration for social workers and how important it is that its implementation is thorough and that we get it right. It is fair to say that the bill before us today would ensure that this occurs.

The bill before us, the Social Workers Registration (Commencement) Amendment Bill 2023, seeks to amend two sections of the Social Workers Registration Act 2021. The first is to replace section 2 to defer a commencement of the act from 9 December 2023 to 1 July 2025, unless fixed earlier by proclamation. This will ensure an operational registration scheme is in place at the time the act commences. The second is to make a consequential amendment to section 68 to ensure that the opportunity to create transitional provisions via regulations remains under the act, as amended. This will enable the registration scheme to be implemented in a staged approach and prioritise systems and structures. In a nutshell, the amendments that form the bill before us will ensure that the necessary foundations are in place prior to the commencement of the act.

I am very supportive of the introduction of a social worker registration scheme for the benefits it will deliver—the benefits for clients of social workers and the benefits for the social workers themselves. We know that these include improved public safety, higher standards of conduct and accountability through the provision of accessible mechanisms for complaints and review, and improved professional development opportunities for people within the profession. To this end, the Malinauskas Labor government committed $4.7 million to support the establishment and the introduction of the scheme.

We know that social workers have a significant role to play across many different settings, government agencies and the non-government sector. With more than 700 social workers, the Department for Child Protection is one of the biggest employers of social workers in South Australia.

Generally speaking, we can say that social workers are dedicated, hardworking professionals who, like many in our teaching workforce, take home with them the issues they deal with on a daily basis. They do not switch off when they reach home each day; although, when I was speaking to Gurpreet last night, she was talking to me about how that is included in some of their training. As part of her master's, they look at ways that social workers can deal with their ability to be able to—for mental health reasons, I suppose, more than anything—do that switching off.

We have heard from the minister that just a few weeks ago Professor Sarah Wendt, a social work expert with a strong national and international reputation, commenced in the role of director for the social workers registration scheme. Professor Wendt is in the chamber with us here today. An academic at Flinders and the University of South Australia, and having previously practised as a social worker in the field of domestic and family violence, Professor Wendt certainly comes with great recommendations.

She has been a teacher of social work for more than a decade and has researched and been published on violence against women and children as well as social work practice. The professor's responsibility in her new role includes the development and implementation of the scheme, including a very important role recruiting staff, engaging the registrar and facilitating the appointment of a board.

I see this as similar to the way the Teachers Registration Board operates. Once established, the new social workers registration board will develop and maintain a social workers register and prepare and endorse codes of conduct, professional standards and ethical guidelines for registered social workers. I believe its introduction will be a very positive step towards a better future for our social workers and for their clients.

The newly appointed director will build on stakeholder engagement work, including at a national level with the Australian Association of Social Workers and other jurisdictions, which has been undertaken by the Department for Child Protection over the past 18 months. Timing changes will be managed by the Department for Child Protection in discussion with the Department of Treasury and Finance and will not, I understand, impact the budget.

Once again, this time through establishing a social workers registration scheme, our state of South Australia will be leading the nation on an important legislative change, one that has been a long time coming. We have heard that the Minister for Child Protection believes the social workers registration scheme will give the community more confidence in the critical role of social workers, reinforcing the framework for professional standards and ethics, and I could not agree more.

The preferred long-term approach in South Australia was and remains a national registration scheme, which I understand is also the preference of the Australian Association of Social Workers. Professor Wendt, I agree with you that the registration of social workers is an important next step in establishing respect, quality and professional identity in the community and that we need to make sure that this implementation is done on a very strong foundation. I commend the bill to the house.

Ms THOMPSON (Davenport) (12:36): I, too, rise to speak to the Social Workers Registration (Commencement) Amendment Bill. Our social workers are incredible people: they work with and alongside some of our community's most vulnerable, and they do it because they care. They want to see people who need a leg up get the help they deserve, and they want to play their part in delivering positive change.

The benefits of the bill are wide reaching. The introduction of a social workers registration scheme will increase accountability of our social workers and hold them to a higher standard. That is not to say that their standards are not already exceptionally high, but when we take stock of the people requiring their services and consider their complex needs, the need for this legislation becomes apparent.

As it is in so many different fields, South Australia is again positioning itself as a leader, this time in the space of social worker registration. It is important that we get this right, and that is why this bill defers commencement of the social workers registration act to July 2025. South Australia's preferred long-term approach remains a national registration scheme, which also happens to be the preferred model of the Australian Association of Social Workers.

Right now, jurisdictional support for a national scheme does not exist, which in my view is unfortunate, but views change and they can change quite quickly. We need to be in a position to adapt should South Australia's leadership pave the way for the national scheme Australian social workers have been asking for. To ensure that our scheme is as agile as it needs to be requires time.

As we have heard today—and we are lucky to be joined by Professor Wendt in the gallery—we could not ask for a more qualified person to be leading us in this space. She will be responsible for leading the scheme's development and implementation. We have heard from three speakers already about her extensive experience and qualifications, so we are very grateful to have her on board. As director of the social worker registration scheme, Professor Wendt will build on stakeholder engagement efforts undertaken by the Department for Child Protection over the past 18 months and draw on the funded implementation plan. On funding, the state government has committed $4.7 million to support the establishment of the scheme in South Australia, which is occurring in a staged approach.

High on the priority list is the recruitment of a registrar and appointment of a board, which will again be overseen by Professor Wendt, along with putting in place the structures and systems consistent with any future national approach. Once appointed, the scheme's seven-member board will develop and maintain the social workers register and prepare and endorse codes of conduct for social workers.

Again, our social workers are exceptional and dedicated individuals. They provide a level of care and understanding where it is needed. They are tireless advocates for social justice. They are through and through professionals and they give back to their communities in ways that deserve far more recognition than they often garner.

When we speak about wanting to introduce new professional standards and increase accountability for the people working in this field, it is not because we do not trust them—far from it. It takes a special person to dedicate their professional life to lifting those around them, and I can say with some confidence that all of us on this side of the house have faith in the ability of our social workers to give that job their all.

I want every South Australian to have that same faith in the will and professionalism of our social workers. To have new standards in place and to have a board that reinforces those frameworks means there can be no doubt. I think Professor Wendt has put it best when she said that this is about improving our understanding of risk and protection for the people our social workers work for.

When we talk about social workers, we talk about members of one of the largest professional working groups in South Australia. The Department for Child Protection alone employs more than 700. Then you take into consideration workers positioned within other agencies, as well as in the non-government sector. It is a big job to oversee the introduction of a scheme this size, onboard each of these professionals and ensure compatibility with any future national scheme, but I am confident that we have the right person at the helm, and I am equally confident that we will build the right team around them.

As I touched on earlier, this scheme has the support of the Australian Association of Social Workers, the professional body for social workers in Australia. I would like to thank the association for working with both the state government and parliament to ensure delivery of the best possible social worker scheme, and I hope to see its advocacy continue in other jurisdictions in the future. Its advocacy dates back as far as 50 years, born out of a want to provide the public with the same confidence in their social workers that the association and I share.

Next on the Australian Association of Social Workers' agenda is a national registration scheme, which South Australia stands ready to support. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to this process, including the Hon. Katrine Hildyard as our Minister for Child Protection, the Hon. Nat Cook, the Hon. Tammy Franks in the other place, the Australian Association of Social Workers and, most importantly, the social workers themselves. We would be a lesser state without all of your contributions. Thank you for all that you do. I commend this bill to the house.

Ms CLANCY (Elder) (12:42): I rise today in support of the Social Workers Registration (Commencement) Amendment Bill 2023. Assented to on 9 December 2021, the Social Workers Registration Act 2021 is due to commence on its two-year anniversary, on 9 September this year, as required under the legislation.

Social workers are extremely committed and qualified professionals, who every day will make a difference to the life of a South Australian and their family. Their work is crucial to disadvantaged and vulnerable members of our community. The introduction of a social worker registration scheme will have a range of benefits, including introducing accessible mechanisms for complaints and review to promote higher standards of conduct and accountability, improved professional development opportunities, and greater public safety.

The bill before us today seeks to amend two sections of the Social Workers Registration Act 2021. Firstly, it will replace section 2 to defer commencement of the act to 1 July 2025, unless fixed earlier by proclamation. Secondly, it will make a consequential amendment to section 68 to ensure that the opportunity to create transitional provisions via regulation remains under the act as amended.

In September this year, Professor Sarah Wendt began in her role as director for the social work registration scheme. Professor Wendt is charged with the responsibility of developing and implementing the scheme, including recruiting staff, engaging a registrar and facilitating the appointment of a board, all of which will take time, and we want to ensure there is time to do it properly.

Professor Wendt is a social work expert with a strong national and international reputation, having worked at Flinders University from 2016 and my uni, the University of South Australia, before that, from 2006 to 2015. During this time she was a teacher of social work and a researcher and was published on violence against women and children as well as on social work practice.

Prior to her time as an academic, Professor Wendt practised as a social worker in the field of domestic and family violence. When I worked at Women's Safety Services SA (WSSSA), Sarah and her work were often mentioned in conversation and praised. As director, Professor Wendt will build upon the stakeholder engagement work—including at a national level with the Australian Association of Social Workers and other jurisdictions—that has been undertaken by the Department for Child Protection over the past 12 to 18 months. She will draw on the implementation plan that was finalised and funded as part of the 2022-23 Mid-Year Budget Review.

As the Minister for Child Protection outlined in introducing this bill, funding has been committed to the scheme and, outside of some timing changes across the out years, the delayed commencement of the act will not have a budget impact. Any timing changes will be managed by the Department for Child Protection in discussion with the Department of Treasury and Finance as part of the budget process.

We recognise the incredibly important work undertaken by social workers across a range of settings and agencies, both government and non-government, throughout South Australia, which is why we must ensure that the foundations of the social workers registration scheme are properly laid prior to the commencement of the act. By establishing this scheme, South Australia is leading the nation, and it is so important that we get this right the first time.

The preferred long-term approach in South Australia remains that it be a national registration scheme, which I understand is also the preference of the Australian Association of Social Workers. While there may be insufficient jurisdictional support for a national social workers registration scheme at this stage, it is still important that our scheme is implemented in a way that positions it for transition to a national approach, should one be adopted in the future. As I and others in this place have outlined, the introduction of a social workers registration scheme will provide a range of benefits to the sector. As a national leader in this space, it is important that we take the time to do things right.

In closing, I would like to thank the Minister for Child Protection and her team for their work in bringing these amendments to this place. I would like to thank every social worker in South Australia: thank you for your work in incredibly challenging environments, and thank you for choosing a path dedicated to supporting others. A special shout-out goes to my most favourite social worker of all, my incredible sister Kendra, who has been working with the Department for Child Protection for around 14 years now and is so deeply committed to her work. She inspires me every day, and it is she who inspired me to become a foster carer. I commend the bill to the house.

The Hon. N.F. COOK (Hurtle Vale—Minister for Human Services) (12:47): This is a really important piece of legislation. Along with the Minister for Child Protection, I have championed this cause in parliament for some time. As a registered nurse for decades, working in multidisciplinary and allied health teams, I have had the benefit of the pragmatic thinking, the practical approach and the problem-solving of social workers for decades. As a member of parliament, I am really determined to support, in any way we can, progressing the registration of social workers—acknowledging their profession in the way that we do with many other professions, making their skills quite portable and transportable and supporting the evidence-based nature of what they do.

The contribution I make will only be a short one because I have spoken about this in the chamber on many occasions. Sadly, I have spoken about this bill in another form during the period of our opposition, and I will unpack some of those issues in a moment. I want to say that I will not allow the member for Heysen, whose work I actually respect, to attempt to rewrite history here. The history of the social work bill is that it came out of a committee that we held during the last parliament. It was brought into this chamber—I worked really hard with the Hon. Tammy Franks from the other place to get that bill into this chamber—and it sat on the paper for ages.

The former member for Adelaide made no effort to contribute any commitment to act on this, to fund this, to progress this and, in fact, there was active obstruction of the passage of that bill and the implementation of social work registration. I will not linger on it but I just will not allow history to be manipulated or altered in any way.

I feel that, potentially, if the member for Heysen as minister in the previous government was the person who was responsible for that, maybe we would have got some action, but instead the member for Adelaide at the time, as Minister for Child Protection at that point, did nothing. It is a great shame and a disgrace that we are now here some three years later with the Minister for Child Protection, the Hon. Katrine Hildyard, now actually acting on this in our government. I think we will acknowledge that there was probably some support for it. I think there were good, productive conversations about it, but there just seemed to be a lot of hand-wringing and no real action.

It is great that this is happening now. The implementation of a registration scheme will provide numerous advantages and that will include enhanced public safety, elevated standards of conduct and also increased accountability. Additionally, it will create a much better professional development opportunity pathway for social workers and individuals within the social work profession. Those pathways and those benefits will be then shared amongst broader teams of workers working within the teams of social workers. There will be a lot of knock-on benefits in terms of what this bill will produce.

Social workers step in during critical periods to support clients who are often dealing with a spectrum of issues that affect their physical, their psychological, their social, their economic and broad wellbeing. Despite the crucial nature of social work, many social workers operate independently. Presently, social work functions as a self-regulated profession wherein professional standards are upheld, but there is a lack of enforceability around this. This framework will ensure that that can happen.

It has certainly been developed in a collegial and consultative way—again, over far too long a period—and there is great history to that, going back many governments, to whether or not this should be a federal scheme, or whether the states can do it. Frankly, I think everyone has lost patience. It just needs to happen and I am very glad that my colleague and friend the Minister for Child Protection is championing this cause.

I would like to celebrate two social workers who work amongst my services that I have the great privilege of overseeing as minister. As Minister for Human Services, many would be aware that we have the Department of Human Services portfolios that encapsulate a whole range of areas where I sum it up by saying people within those areas, without good policy and rigorous program evolution and delivery, become vulnerable.

That includes, obviously, people living with disability, it includes a range of people who live in poverty or who are subject to generational consequences of poverty, and also, there is a cohort that I work closely in partnership with the Minister for Child Protection on, and that is our child and family support services program. There are many other cost-of-living and support services and youth justice, as well as volunteers within our portfolio areas, but this social worker works in the child and family support service framework and is a warrior for the safety and betterment of children and families in our state and has been for many, many decades, and that is Kerry Beck.

Kerry Beck is an extraordinary, innovative thinker, has a way of being able to dig deeply through the layers in order to find practical solutions, is a mentor for many other people working in that service and others within DHS, and is a real ally for people living on the margins in our community who are struggling to keep their families together. This year Kerry Beck was awarded the Social Worker of the Year Award and I am constantly in awe of the work that she and others in our department, DHS, do. Thank you, Kerry, for everything you do and will continue to do as we increase what we invest in and how we improve the services for children and families in South Australia.

The other part to my portfolio is the social housing and homelessness portfolio and one of those very important pieces is the leadership structure we have that is helping us to turn around the culture and delivery of services within the South Australian Housing Authority. It is no coincidence—and I have spoken about it in this place—that there was a shocking loss of 20 per cent of the staff over the previous four years between 2018 and 2022. They were very committed and good people who knew and dealt with many of our tenants over the time. It led to a blowout in the numbers of tenancies per housing officer and tenancy practitioner.

We also have a very limited number now of social workers working in our service, but it is no coincidence that turning around and finding some practical solutions to complex tenancy—often including families and children—is being led from the top by the Presiding Member of the Housing Trust Board, Mary Patetsos.

Mary Patetsos has been a warrior for change, a warrior for advocacy and a champion for people who need an advocate in many areas for decades. Some people might not know that her primary qualification is as a social worker, majoring in psychology. She has worked as a lead social worker in many areas, but one of them is aged care and ageing, which has in itself provided her with the skills and a platform to lead aged-care services but also now the skills and the capacity to be a leader in the South Australian Housing Authority as we deal with some of the most complex tenants and families.

It goes without saying that most of our tenants have no problem, they are great tenants, but there is a small number who really need the support. Mary, as a leader, as a social worker, is able to deliver on some of these policy things that we are changing together. This year Mary was recognised with a Member of the Order of Australia, and I thank her for that.

I wish Professor Sarah Wendt all the best for success as the first director of the scheme. Her expertise will be absolutely valuable. I also just want to take 30 seconds to pay tribute to Dr Anita Phillips who passed away earlier this year. She was an active lobbyist for social worker registration and I was lucky enough to meet her and grow a friendship with her during her trips to South Australia. She is a past MP of the Queensland parliament and former Premier Beattie in a tribute to her said:

Anita was a powerful advocate for the people of Thuringowa and a trail blazer for women in Queensland politics at a time in Queensland when both were a challenge. She was a key part of the Labor team in 2001. Her strength of character and determination were admired by both sides of politics.

I admired her strength of character and her determination. I will miss our text messages. I commend the bill to the house.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Were you on your feet, member for Giles? I missed that, sorry.

Mr HUGHES (Giles) (12:59): Yes, I was on my feet. I was just going to add a few short words but it looks like they might indeed be very short. I do commend this bill and I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.

Sitting suspended from 12:59 to 14:00.

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