Hong Kong seeks to add government appointees to social work regulator amid concerns it failed to bar national security offenders
- Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun says Social Workers Registration Board failed to strip national security offenders of professional status
- ‘The board’s behaviour and decisions have … ignored the overall social interests, undermined the professionalism and public credibility of social workers,’ he adds
Hong Kong authorities are planning to add more appointed members and government representatives to a statutory body overseeing social workers, amid accusations that the organisation failed to bar national security offenders.
Lawmaker Peter Douglas Koon Ho-ming on Saturday confirmed to the Post the government would propose to change the composition of the 15-member Social Workers Registration Board to reverse the current dominance by eight elected workers from the sector.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han on Friday said the board, overseeing 27,000 social workers, had neglected to stop offenders from becoming registered professionals.
“The board’s behaviour and decisions have … ignored the overall social interests, undermined the professionalism and public credibility of social workers,” he said in a Facebook post.
The board rejected the claims as “having no factual basis” and “unfair”.
