Code of ethics for social work professionals 'this year'

A code of ethics that will further regulate the social work profession should be published later this year, Social Solidarity Minister Dolores Cristina said.

The Social Work Profession Board will be publishing the code, in accordance with the Social Work Act, to offer those in the sphere the same legal regulation afforded to other professionals.

"Malta has come a long way in the provision of social services and in the structuring of this sector. I do not think it can be underestimated how big a milestone this is for the social work profession," Ms Cristina said.

She was addressing the first national social work conference organised by the Maltese Association of Social Workers, in collaboration with the Department of Social Policy and Social Work and the university. It is being held over two days at the Westin Dragonara Resort, in St Julians.

The event is offering a space to critically reflect and examine how social work practices and services must work to promote social wellbeing and a more cohesive society, in turn meeting the needs of people in the community.

"This conference in itself is a major milestone... Raising standards of our service delivery and giving recognition to the status of social workers is another important objective we have been working towards over the last two years and we intend to continue to strengthen this in future," Ms Cristina said.

Establishing the Department for Social Welfare Standards and setting up childcare standards was only the beginning of a whole process that would lead to better quality in the social welfare service.

"This year we intend to finalise the code of practice and code of conduct for social service workers and launch the consultation on the first National Standards for Children in Residential Care and Foster Care," she added.

Enhancing social cohesion, learning from good practices, and strengthening the social welfare services were high priorities and the ministry had this year invested over Lm500,000 in new social welfare projects aimed at promoting this cohesion.

Ms Cristina said the government was introducing a gradual reform in the welfare benefit system aimed at ensuring security and dignity for all.

Parliamentary Secretary Tonio Fenech, who opened the conference, said the government's expenditure on social security benefits was increasing every year.

The expenditure on social benefits amounted to Lm139 million in 1995, a figure that reached a record Lm278 million this year. The total social obligations cost, which included the total expenditure in the social, health, and education sectors, was projected at Lm440 million, from a total government recurrent expenditure of Lm879 million in 2007.

Mr Fenech expressed his satisfaction that the National Lotteries Good Causes Fund was supporting the conference, following a proposal made by the association.

The fund, within the Ministry of Finance, generated its income from a percentage of tax on national lotteries and from unclaimed prizes.

The fund's committee last year approved 74 requests amounting to Lm625,000, of which 35 were of a social nature.

The conference, which continues today, will include papers and workshops on social work practice in palliative care; lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues in social work practice; developing resilience in social workers; and the development of childcare services, among others.