Theme 1: Oversight and Governance

Health and social service professional regulation – which includes social worker regulation – helps ensure healthcare professionals provide expert services safely and in a way that benefits the public. The overall purpose of health and social service regulation is to protect the public from harm. To achieve this, professional regulators – including social work regulators – typically develop rules addressing:

1. Requirements for entry into practice, including training, education, and experience;
2. Standards of practice;
3. Ethics; and
4. Continuing professional development (CPD).

Additionally, regulators are tasked with enforcing standards of conduct and ethics by sanctioning members who do not comply.