The AASW calls on Health Ministers to consider and act on the recommendations of the “Unleashing the Potential of our Health Workforce” Scope of Practice final report. Social work is not a registered profession in Australia, but the review presented it as a priority profession for strengthened regulation.

The Scope of Practice Report was an independent review led by Professor Mark Cormack. The Scope of Practice Review was commissioned by the Federal Health Minister to investigate how health professionals could work to their full scope of practice in primary care.

The review was signed off by National Cabinet in April 2023 as a recommendation of the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce Report which explored critical areas to redesign primary care as the core of an effective modern health system.

Social workers are an important part of the health workforce supporting the health and wellbeing of Australians, with the potential to have a greater impact if barriers to their practice are removed.

The AASW made submissions to the review. We argued that the inclusion of social workers in the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS) is the most effective and foundational reform that would support social workers to work to their full scope of practice.

The final report proposes that social work is a priority profession for strengthened regulation, along with six other self-regulating professions. It identifies an option for an additional pathway into the NRAS by introducing a ‘public interest’ criterion into the regulatory assessment for the statutory registration of a health profession.

AASW CEO Cindy Smith said

“Social work is not a registered profession in Australia. The AASW has been calling on Health Ministers in all states and territories to work with us to undertake a Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) on registering social workers. The RIS assesses risks to public health and safety and the impact of new regulation.”

“Now we have an independent reviewer who was commissioned by Health Ministers telling them that social workers are a priority. It’s time the Health Ministers came to the table and recognised the mounting weight of evidence for national social work registration.”