Call for social work to be a registered profession following coronial recommendations

Poor practice, unethical behaviour and unqualified social workers have been able to fester in the self-regulated model of the industry that deals with society’s most vulnerable people, a peak body says.

Australian Association of Social Workers chief executive officer Cindy Smith. Picture: Supplied

The nation’s peak body for social workers is pleading with governments to take responsibility and professionally recognise their line of work, and has argued the self-regulation model has allowed poor practice, unethical behaviour and unqualified social workers to fester in the industry.

While an estimated 44,200 social workers are employed in Australia, just over 17,000 are members of the Australian Association of Social Workers.

The organisation is leading the push to get social workers registered within the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency’s National Registration and Accreditation Scheme to ensure social work is being delivered only by people who have the right training and experience and who are bound by professional standards.

AASW chief executive Cindy Smith said social workers carried out highly complex work in sectors such as mental health, child protection, disability support and family violence and noted there would be significant negative consequences for service users if they came into contact with poor social work.

“We’ve seen so many coronial reports where a social worker did not have the necessary skills or knowledge needed and coroners have made the recommendation to make it a registered profession,” she said. “It is one of the few professions that works almost solely with disadvantaged, marginalised and disenfranchised people.”

In 2022, Victorian Coroner Darren Bracken in his findings into the death of a 50-year-old woman, known as “PFS”, said the need for greater oversight of social workers was demonstrated by PFS’s social worker “promoting the use of relationships counselling despite the presence of family violence”.

In South Australia, Coroner Mark Johns called for a requirement that social workers be registered and that social workers with less than a year’s experience be supervised, in his findings into the 2012 death of four-year-old Chloe Valentine.

Belinda Valentine with granddaughter Chloe, 4, who died in 2012. Picture: Supplied by family

If social workers were to come under the NRAS, it would mean they would be bound by consistent, high-quality and professional standards, similar to medical practitioners, dentists, optometrists, psychologists, and physiotherapists.

Even the title of social worker can be open to exploitation and misuse.

“We know that social work has been on the critical skilled shortage list for over a decade. We know employers struggle to fill vacancies, we know it’s a high pressure job and sometimes low morale,” Ms Smith said.

“Employers might be tempted to hire not fully qualified people into roles and they won’t necessarily have a social work qualification.

“When the public interacts with someone who calls themself a social worker, they might not get someone with the qualified skills, knowledge and degree.”

The stark difference between the estimated amount of social workers and the number of people registered with the AASW was cause for concern, the peak body’s boss said.

“Social workers who join to be a member of the Australian Association of Social Workers make a declaration to practise in line with the AASW Code of Ethics, the AASW Practice Standards, and commit to keep up with career professional development,” she said.

“People who are not members of the AASW do not have the same obligations outside the remit of their employers.”

The SA government passed legislation recently to establish a social worker registration scheme next year, following multiple coronial inquests into deaths, as well as child protection reviews.

Ms Smith called it “embarrassing” that Australia is out of step internationally with countries such as the UK, US, Canada and New Zealand that have their own registration schemes.

“There cannot be any further coronial inquests that echo this recommendation. It is time for the state and commonwealth governments to act now and take responsibility for the protection of the public,” she said.