This Government bill makes policy and technical amendments to the Social Workers Registration Act 2003 to improve how the Act operates. It was enacted as the Social Workers Registration Amendment Act 2025.
Parliament advanced this bill under urgency (committee of whole house, second reading, third reading) — moving it through faster than usual, with less time than normal for public submissions.
The Social Workers Registration Amendment Bill updates the system that regulates social workers so it operates more effectively. It amends the Social Workers Registration Act 2003, confirming that everyone practising as a social worker must be registered with the Social Workers Registration Board and hold a current annual practising certificate. It gives the Board clearer powers, including the ability to stand a social worker down from practice while a complaint or investigation is under way, protecting vulnerable clients before any final finding. Alongside these policy changes it makes technical fixes to how registration, complaints and discipline work.
This is a Government bill amending the Social Workers Registration Act 2003, building on the shift to compulsory registration for the profession. Supporters argue it strengthens public protection and puts social work on the same regulated footing as health, teaching and law, giving the Board faster tools to act on risk. Critics worry that standing someone down before wrongdoing is proven raises natural-justice and due-process concerns, and that extra registration requirements add cost and pressure to an already stretched workforce.
See the Parliament.nz ↗ site for the full bill.