Hong Kong authorities intend to increase the number of government-appointed members in a body that reviews social workers’ licenses, local media have reported.
The potential move came after the city’s social welfare minister said changes were needed to “better protect national security,” saying that people who have “committed serious crimes” have been approved to become social workers.
Authorities were planning to introduce legislation to restructure the Social Workers Registration Board, Ming Pao reported on Sunday. The 15-member board is tasked with regulating the city’s social workers.
The current board, formed in December 2021, consists of eight social workers elected by their peers; six appointed by the chief executive who do not necessarily have to be social workers; and one ex officio member, the director of social welfare.
The amendment is expected to let government representatives and members appointed by the city’s chief executive John Lee to command a majority on the board.
Lawmaker Peter Koon told Commercial Radio that he would support such an amendment, adding that he was not worried that the field’s autonomy would be affected.
He said the board’s practices “on certain issues” were unsatisfactory. The lawmaker quoted one board member as saying that the elected members did not want to hold discussions and went straight to a vote.
Social worker’s rioting case
Koon’s remarks came after Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun slammed the board on Friday for failing to establish a mechanism barring those convicted of national security offences from becoming registered social workers, even after an amendment was passed in July 2022 preventing such appointments.
Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest, criminalising subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts.
Among the points Sun raised in his Facebook post was the board’s decision to vote a social worker onto a panel of reserve members for the board’s disciplinary committee even though she faced a rioting charge in court at the time.
“Despite strong opposition from members of the board, the board approved the appointment by a majority vote,” he said, without naming the social worker he was referring to.
Hong Kong social worker Jackie Chen now faces a retrial for a rioting charge that she was originally acquitted of in 2020 due to a lack of prima facie evidence. Local media outlet The Witness reported in March that Chen intends to plead not guilty in September.
Former Scholarism spokesperson Oscar Lai also sits on the board as one of the elected members.
“As social workers are trusted by aid recipients and have a great deal of influence on them, they are all the more obliged to abide by the rule of law, consciously safeguard national security, social order and public interest, and carry out their duties impartially and set a good example,” Sun wrote in his Chinese Facebook post.
Chen’s case and the board’s alleged inaction “highlighted the need to enhance the governance of the board to safeguard national security, protect the public interest, and promote the orderly development of the social work profession,” he added.
‘Fabricated’ allegations
The registration board issued a 2,000-character statement on Saturday to address the “fabricated” allegations made by the welfare minister.
The board said the 2022 amendment does not require it to deal with persons convicted of national security offences any differently from those convicted of other offences listed under the ordinance, adding that no reserve member of the current term’s disciplinary committee had ever been convicted of rioting.
The board said it invited Labour and Welfare Bureau (LWB) officials to attend a meeting in September 2022 to address questions from its members after the amendments, and had spent time and resources on discussions, in addition to seeking legal advice.
“Only by cautiously handling relevant matters can the Social Workers Registration Board better safeguard national security, protect the public interest, and promote the orderly development of the social work profession,” it said in the Chinese statement.
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