The Labour and Welfare Bureau submitted the “2024 Social Workers Registration (Amendment) Bill” to the Legislative Council last month for its first reading. It is expected to undergo the second reading on July 3. A survey conducted by several Hong Kong social workers and professionals in the social welfare sector, including social workers and scholars, revealed that 95% of industry personnel believe that the government’s proposed amendments are not appropriate. The survey recommended that the authorities engage in widespread consultation to gather opinions from working and retired social workers as well as social work students.
The survey, conducted online from June 7 to 13, targeted working and retired social workers and social work students in Hong Kong, with a total of 3,138 valid responses. Among the respondents, there were 2,228 working social workers (71%), 83 retired social workers (2.6%), and 827 social work students (26.4%).
The survey results indicated that 95% of respondents viewed the proposed amendments as inappropriate, demonstrating the strong opposition of social workers to the government’s actions. Additionally, 88.6% of respondents did not agree with expanding the number of appointed members on the Registration Board from the current 7 to 19. Furthermore, 94.5% agreed that the amendments could lead to social workers facing potential accusations of “endangering national security” in their work, and 89.9% agreed that the government’s proposed changes could make it harder for social workers to advocate for the rights of marginalized communities. 72.4% of respondents also expressed disagreement that the proposed amendments would enhance the professionalism of social workers.
The survey team criticized the Director of the Labour and Welfare Bureau, Suen Yuk Han, for submitting the draft bill to the Legislative Council without conducting proper consultations. The team also highlighted that the survey results clearly demonstrate the lack of support for the proposed amendments among Hong Kong social workers and social work students. They do not believe that the amendments would elevate the professionalism of social workers.
Moreover, the team asserted that the government’s proposed amendments could lead to politicization overriding professionalism, undermining the autonomy of social work professionals, restricting the advocacy space for marginalized communities, and weakening the focus on the actual needs of service users. This could potentially lead social workers to unknowingly cross red lines, facing risks of legal repercussions or license renewal denials, causing confusion in their daily work and self-restraint in their professional practice, ultimately compromising the rights of service users, particularly those in vulnerable communities.
The team offered various recommendations to the government regarding the proposed amendments. They urged the authorities to respect the professionalism of social workers by engaging in extensive and systematic consultations with industry professionals before implementing the amendments and subsequent actions. If the government intends to increase the composition of the Social Workers Registration Board from 15 to 27 members, including adding 6 social worker members, these additional members should be democratically elected by registered social workers on a one-person-one-vote basis, increasing the number of elected members to 14.
Furthermore, the team emphasized that professional autonomy is the foundation of any profession, and the government should not intervene or control the profession without solid investigation and analysis. They warned that increasing the number of appointed members on the Registration Board would erode the professional discourse rights of social workers, conveying a message to society that the government does not believe in professional governance.
In addition, Lin Zhao Huan, a democratically elected member of the Social Workers Registration Board and a social work scholar, resigned earlier this month citing dissatisfaction with the government’s handling of the amendments and the “five sins” listed by Suen Yuk Han. It was reported that three more democratically elected members have resigned recently, including Chan Kwok Bon, Chung Wai Lun, and Luk Fung Ping. When contacted by the media, Chung Wai Lun confirmed his resignation from the Registration Board due to personal reasons but declined to comment on whether it was related to the government’s proposed amendments.