Maharey Steve: Social Workers Registration Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
Maharey Steve: Social Workers Registration Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:607;Page:4876] 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister of Social Services and Employment) 
: 
I move  
That the Social Workers Registration Bill be now read a third time 
. The key principles of this bill are to provide people with greater protection from the harm that may result from poor social work practice to enhance the professionalism of social work and to ensure an investment is made in the people who work in this important occupation. For Dr Newman’s edification I repeat the phrase “to ensure an investment is made in the people who work in this important occupation” which means that we have allocated the Department of Child Youth and Family with funding to ensure that they can make it through to registration. 
The bill establishes a regulatory framework for the registration of all social workers. It will be applicable across all sectors where social workers are employed in New Zealand. The bill will improve the quality of social work by requiring that registered social workers are competent and held accountable for their practice. It establishes a system that will provide greater protection to the often vulnerable people who receive services from social workers. People receiving social work support deserve a quality service. 
The bill will establish a board to register social workers. The board will be required to promote the benefits of registration of social workers. The employers of social workers and the public generally will also be people to whom this concept is promoted. A tribunal will be established to consider complaints against registered social workers and to manage disciplinary issues. 
Under the registration system only certain people will have the right to use the title “registered social worker”. Only those who have a recognised qualification in social work—and I stress “recognised qualification”—who have enough practical experience who are judged to be fit and proper people to be in social work who are competent and who can practise social work with Maori and different ethnic and cultural perspectives are the kinds of people who will enjoy the “registered social worker” title. The public need to be assured that they can have confidence in people who wield as many speakers have said quite considerable power. 
This is an enabling rather than prescriptive piece of legislation. A significant amount of detail around registration will of course be left to the profession itself through the board. For example the profession itself must decide what an appropriate qualification is. Professions have to own the process of registration in their own profession. 
A number of submissions were received. A vast majority of submitters supported the intent of this legislation. They were of a view that registration would result in better protection and better safeguards for clients and can I say social workers as well. One of the key issues raised by the Social Services Committee was whether registration should be compulsory. Given the shortness of the debate around this bill we canvassed that issue in the second part of this debate and people raised it during the Committee stage so I do not intend to elaborate on it here save to say that I agree with the view of the House that although mandatory registration is not appropriate at this time it needs to be constantly revisited by the registration board to decide when it will be appropriate to move towards a time when perhaps either the term “social worker” is protected or we have mandatory social work registration. But it is not appropriate to do it right now. 
I would certainly like to thank the select committee for all its hard work. It has I think produced legislation that will be welcomed by the sector. I would like to thank the sector itself. It has worked for many many years to get this up and running. It has been closely involved in the registration legislation. I would like to put on the record my thanks to one particular person by the name of Buster Cursonwho has worked with the profession and with the Government right through this process to ensure the liaison has been clear and open and results in good legislation. We now want to ensure that we carry out our promise to social workers that they will move into a professional environment that is good for them good for the public and most of all good for the clients they serve. I commend the bill to the House.