The Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) has been calling for the statutory registration of social workers for several decades. We believe that statutory registration is instrumental to achieving adequate professional standards for over 40,000 social workers across Australia.

Social workers support people who may be at-risk through situations which demand high standards of practice and ethical conduct, including in child protection, mental health and family violence systems.

Social workers should be held to the same high standards as other healthcare professionals. We advocate for social workers to be included in the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS) overseen by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (APHRA).