KUALA LUMPUR: A government backbencher has urged the government to redouble its efforts and commit to a tabling date for the Social Work Profession Bill.
Subang member of parliament Wong Chen expressed his disappointment over Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri's announcement that the bill would only be tabled in the Parliament next year.
Wong said he had been assisting Unicef and several non-governmental organisations since 2023 in their pursuit to prepare the draft of the bill.
"We started assisting them in the middle of 2023.
"It has been more than a year. They have an advanced draft and have also substantially reduced their request for a grant to professionalise social work," Wong said in a Facebook post.
He added that amid the Global Ikhwan Sdn Bhd Holdings (GISBH) controversy, the issue could have been prevented with the introduction of the bill.
Earlier today, Nancy said the bill was only expected to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat next year.
She said the ministry is currently gathering input from stakeholders as many parties wanted to be a part of the process.
The bill is expected to include a provision for an independent body that regulates the social work profession through the registration and certification of registered social worker practices.
The law, which was first mulled in 2010, aims at elevating social workers in the country.
Experts have called for social work to be recognised as a profession in Malaysia suggesting that the government set regulations, standards, quality control, training and the issuance of certificates.