Bond Ria: Social Workers Registration (Mandatory Registration) Amendment Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBond Ria: Social Workers Registration (Mandatory Registration) Amendment Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 14 October 2015. Volume:709;Page:7243. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]RIA BOND (NZ First): I am proud to rise on behalf of New Zealand First and speak to the Social Workers Registration (Mandatory Registration) Amendment Bill at its first reading in the House today.When this bill was first drawn from the ballot this quote from Nelson Mandela came to my mind: “A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens but its lowest ones.” This quote fits with how we as a legislative body bring bills into this House and pass them particularly the bill we are reading and dealing with now which involves our youngest citizens to our frail elderly. New Zealand First supports this bill. This bill makes common sense. I wish to thank the Labour member Carmel Sepuloni for bringing this bill before the House. This bill is needed in today’s environment of social services more than ever before.Social worker services are crucial to this country in dealing with the multiple levels of delivering services to our most vulnerable and our elderly. I need to acknowledge that this bill is also endorsed by the Social Workers Registration Board. In fact after reading the many in-depth reviews provided by the Social Workers Registration Board I am stunned that 12 years later we are still yet to make a decision and take on the recommendation by the Social Workers Registration Board for the mandatory registration of social workers.A survey from 2002 showed there is in fact wide support for this movement both from the profession and from the public. This remains the case today. In 2003 the Social Workers Registration Board was established by the Government under the Social Workers Registration Act 2003. The purpose of this Act back then was to protect the safety of members of the public by prescribing or providing for mechanisms to ensure that social workers are competent to practise and are accountable for the way in which they practise and to enhance the professionalism of social workers.Anyone can use the title “social worker”. They do not have to be qualified competent or experienced. The public expects that all social workers are actually registered. In fact a survey undertaken showed that 80 percent of the public surveyed actually thought that social workers were registered. Currently anyone can call themselves a social worker without having any qualifications or being registered with the Social Workers Registration Board. We are told that over 18000 people class themselves as social workers yet there are only 4700 who are actually registered as social workers. Social workers—unlike other health professionals such as nurses doctors psychologists occupational therapists and teachers who like social workers also work with the public—are not currently required to be registered.Clause 6 of this bill inserts a new section section 5A. This requires any persons practising social work to be registered and to hold a current practising certificate. This bill will provide New Zealanders with the assurance that anyone working as a social worker inside our schools hospitals and communities and with families our children and our elderly will in fact have the necessary qualifications and experience to do so. I am also pleased to see that clause 8 with a new section section 85A will provide that the Social Workers Complaints and Disciplinary Tribunal will deal with unregistered and deregistered social workers. What this new section allows is for accountability for those individuals who have been replaced by their employers for serious complaints and misconduct so that these individuals cannot simply just carry on in the social services sector without first being held accountable. Since voluntary registration was introduced in 2003 there have been 17 cases of reported misconduct by people who worked as social workers or community workers—16 of whom were unregistered.Quickly before I finish I just want to share with this House that 37 years ago I was first placed in foster care. I got picked up by social workers and the comment that has stuck with me for the rest of my life and even today was when I was told by the social worker: “Why didn’t your mother just abort you? Knitting needles are free.” How many more kids need to hear things like that? We support this bill.