Should social work become a registered profession? An examination of the views of 15 Australian social workers

Bibliographic Data

ID11229050
AuthorsMeghan Tangney (Department of Social Work Monash University East Caulfield Victoria Australia), Philip Mendes (0000-0002-2750-4140, Department of Social Work Monash University East Caulfield Victoria Australia, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume58
Issue2
Pages343-359
Publication date2023-06-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAustralian Journal of Social Issues (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0157-6321 • E-ISSN: 1839-4655
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajs4.222
OpenAlexW4280536045
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited10

In contrast to most Western jurisdictions, social work in Australia is not currently a registered profession. However, in late 2021, the South Australian Parliament passed a Bill to register social workers in that state. This follows a long‐standing but previously unsuccessful campaign by the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) to attain social work registration at a national level. Yet, to date, there has been no empirical research on the views of social workers—whether members or the AASW or not—concerning the merits of registration. This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study of the views of 15 social workers regarding registration. The findings suggest that the profession holds diverse views concerning the potential benefits or harms emanating from registration. Some conclusions are drawn regarding priorities for future research including particularly the impact of registration on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social workers and service users

Parliament · Political science · Project commissioning · Public relations · Publishing · Sociology · Work (physics · Engineering · Healthcare innovation and challenges · Law · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Social Work Education and Practice · Social Work

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