An open letter to Members of Parliament: The Social Work Profession Bill 2026 needs urgent rectification

Consultant paediatrician and child disability activist Datuk Dr Amar Singh HSS argues that while the long-awaited Social Work Profession Bill 2026 is vital, several key provisions must be amended before it becomes law.

To all Honourable Members of Parliament (MPs),

The Social Work Profession Bill 2026 has finally been tabled in Parliament. It has been in development since 2010 and is critical to strengthening and professionalising social work in the country by establishing clear standards, accountability and a code of ethics.

However, in its current form, the Bill will not achieve its intended goal. It creates a double standard, threatens to penalise civil society and may compromise the quality of care delivered to vulnerable individuals.

As our elected representatives and lawmakers, we urge you to consider the following concerns, which we hope you will rectify before the Bill is passed.

The Bill fails to make a meaningful distinction between professionally trained social workers and those engaged in social work more generally, whether paid or unpaid, including community workers, NGO staff and volunteers.

Clause 31 outlines offences and introduces criminal penalties. Clause 31(b) states that only a “social work practitioner” or “social work trainee” may provide “social work services”. Unregistered individuals providing “social work services” may be fined up to RM20,000 and/or imprisoned for up to two years, while employers may be fined up to RM50,000 under Clause 32.

Because the definition of “social work services” in Clause 2 is so broad, the Bill risks criminalising thousands of untrained but essential NGO volunteers, soup kitchen operators, faith-based counsellors, befrienders and crisis aid workers. If an uncertified volunteer steps in to provide crisis intervention or community support, both the volunteer and the NGO could face criminal prosecution.

Clause 2 should be refined to clearly distinguish specialised, professional social work from general humanitarian aid and community volunteerism. The law should protect the professional title of “social worker” from fraudulent use, rather than criminalising the act of helping others.

Clause 19(8) is another major concern. It grants a blanket exemption to public officers, stating that they do not require a practising certificate or recognised qualifications to provide social work services in the course of their duties.

This creates a dangerous double standard. The Department of Social Welfare (JKM) and other government agencies handle the country’s most critical child protection, domestic violence and welfare cases. Exempting public officers from requiring practising certificates effectively exempts them from mandatory competency standards, recognised social work qualifications, continuing professional development (CPD) requirements and the code of ethics enforced on practitioners in the private and NGO sectors.

Vulnerable individuals deserve the same standard of professional care, whether they seek help from a public or private social worker. JKM should be staffed by professionally trained social workers, not untrained individuals carrying out highly specialised work.

The blanket exemption should be replaced with a transparent, time-bound transition period of three to five years to allow public officers to achieve accredited competency standards. All newly recruited officers should be professionally trained social workers.

The proposed Malaysian Social Work Profession Council under Clause 3 also raises concerns about professional independence. Unlike comparable bodies such as the Malaysian Medical Council, the Malaysian Bar and the Nursing Board, it provides no mechanism for the profession to elect its own representatives.

For a body responsible for regulating professional ethics and standards, the chairman, who is the ministry’s secretary-general, and the deputy chairman, who is the director-general of Social Welfare, are both civil servants, while every other member is appointed by the minister. This makes the council appear more like a government department than an independent professional regulator.

MPs should push for an election mechanism under which at least half, if not all, of the council’s members are elected by registered practitioners rather than appointed solely by the minister. In addition, the power to revoke appointments under Clause 10 should be subject to clear statutory grounds rather than ministerial discretion without stated reasons.

Honourable Members of Parliament, we have waited more than 15 years for this Bill to be tabled. Malaysia is already lagging behind many ASEAN countries in legislating the social work profession. We do not want the Bill deferred. Our child protection services remain weak and our welfare services lack professionalism.

It is critical that this Bill be passed so our social services can be upgraded to a professional standard and delivered by professionally trained social workers. We have seen too many examples of failure in our child protection system.

We implore you to look beyond partisan lines, listen to the concerns of practitioners on the ground, and make these critical amendments before allowing the Social Work Profession Bill 2026 to become law. We elected you to protect the public interest.

This is one of the most important Bills Parliament can pass for our children and for our nation. Please give Malaysia a meaningful and effective Social Work Profession Bill.

The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the writer and do not represent those of Twentytwo13.