Women’s Ministry targets tabling of Social Work Profession Bill this year, says Nancy Shukri 

KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — The Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development aims to table the Social Work Profession Bill in Parliament this year.

Its minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said the Bill will be tabled after outstanding issues have been resolved.

“The government had in principle agreed to table the Bill in 2019. The ministry had also begun to present the Bill for vetting by the Attorney General’s Chambers in June 2021.

“However, there were issues involving legal and policy matters which needed a review for finalisation before follow-up action could be taken.

“Our initial target is that the Bill be tabled this year, that’s our target, in the hope that all issues raised during the coordination between agencies will be resolved and finalised according to plan,” Nancy told Parliament during Question Time today.

She was responding to DAP’s Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii who asked if the government is planning to table the Social Work Profession Bill in Parliament and if it will include a provision for an independent body that regulates the social work profession through the registration and certification of registered social worker practices.

In response to the question on the independent regulatory body, Nancy said that the matter had in fact been included in the drafting of the Bill.

“Referring to the question regarding an independent body, this matter has indeed been proposed and included by the ministry in the Social Work Profession Bill, and the entity is intended to be an independent body regulating the social work profession including the registration and certification of registered social worker practices as well as the setting of and compliance to the standard practices of social work education,” she said.

Social work is not regulated or recognised as a profession in Malaysia, despite the drafting of the Social Work Profession Bill that began in 2010.

In November last year, Nancy reportedly said the proposed law, which looks at elevating social workers, still needed fine-tuning.

In May 2022, former minister Datuk Seri Rina Harun, under the Perikatan Nasional administration, had said the Bill was at the Attorney General’s Chambers ahead of its tabling that year.