Hong Kong social worker body pauses panel appointments to check ‘clean background’ of members
- Chairman of Social Workers Registration Board says list on hold while body checks ‘image’ of candidates after revamp to depoliticise sector
Hong Kong’s revamped social worker regulator has paused appointments to a panel previously criticised for including a member facing rioting charges, the body’s head has said, stressing the need to select candidates with a “clean background and good reputation”.
Herman Hui Chung-shing, chairman of the Social Workers Registration Board which oversees 27,000 professionals in the sector, said on Saturday he hoped the candidates for its disciplinary committee panel would be reviewed as soon as possible before the list of appointees was gazetted.
“We need to present an image that everyone can accept, at least that the public can accept. We don’t want to have any flaws which make people doubt whether the cases handled by the team are convincing,” he said.
“Therefore, they are not only required to have a truly clean background and a good reputation, but we also pay attention to their image.”
Authorities made new appointments to the board last month after the passage of legislative amendments that authorities earlier insisted were needed to depoliticise a sector whose members were seen as sympathetic to protesters during the 2019 social unrest.
The amendments allowed the body to permanently disqualify those convicted of national security offences and certain other crimes, and also increased the number of government-appointed members on the board from six to 17. Seats allocated to elected representatives remained at eight.