Professional registration of social work: a blunt instrument for creating professional identity?

In this article, the authors critically examine the impact of professional registration on social workers’ professional identity in Australia. The primary purposes of professional registration are to protect the public from harmful social work practitioners and improve professional standing. However, there is contested evidence of its effectiveness in supporting professional identity development. There are additional concerns regarding implications for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who wish to practise or use social work services. Evidence indicates that registration alone serves as an overly simplistic mechanism for cultivating meaningful professional identity within social work practice.

IMPLICATIONS
Social workers need to articulate and practise a strong, independent professional identity in contemporary health and social care environments.
Clarifying how professional registration serves to develop and sustain social work identity will fortify the social work profession.
Efforts are required to ensure that the professional registration of social work will strengthen inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders within the profession.