Professional Conduct Committee Member

Social Workers Registration Board - Seeking lay-members for Professional Conduct Committees.
The Social Workers Registration Board (SWRB) is seeking new members to serve on Professional Conduct Committees (PCCs).
The PCCs are important in the regulation of social work and public safety by ensuring that social workers are competent and safe to practise. PCCs are independent statutory bodies established to investigate complaints, convictions and reports concerning registered social workers.
We are inviting expressions of interest for lay members of PCCs. Lay members are people who are not practising social work.
About the SWRB
The Social Workers Registration Board - Te Kāhui Whakamana Tauwhiro (SWRB), is a Crown entity which is the regulatory authority responsible for the registration of social workers. The SWRB's primary functions are to:

- protect the safety of members of the public by ensuring that social workers are competent, fit to practise, and accountable for the way in which they practise, and;
- enhance the professionalism of social workers.

At the SWRB, we recognise our Crown-Māori commitment as a te Tiriti o Waitangi partner, and are committed to improving services and outcomes for Māori, strengthening the Crown's relationship with Māori, and developing our Māori capability.
We are guided by our organisational values of matatika, manaaki, mahitahi and māia in all our activities and functions.
The role of PCCs
Registered social workers are expected to uphold standards of practice and conduct that are as described in the Code of Conduct and the Core Competencies of social work. When complaints are made about the practice of registered social workers, or the SWRB recieves a notification of a conviction of a registered social worker, it may set up a PCC to investigate.
The PCC is an independent body composed of two registered social workers and one lay member. It has investigatory powers to find out what occurred in relation to the complaint or conviction. The PCC then comes to a determination on what action should be taken on any disciplinary action or restrictions on practice that should be applied. Throughout this process, the PCC is bound by the principles of natural justice and administrative fairness.
The statutory powers of the PCC are as specified in the Social Workers Registration Act 2003 (the Act).

The role of PCC members
PCC members assist in the investigations of matters referred to the PCC by the SWRB, seeking advice from the legal advisor as required. They are expected to understand and follow the principles of natural justice. They contribute to PCC's decisions and reports and review and advise (when appropriate) on charges drafted by the legal advisor/prosecutor for filing in the Social Workers Complaints and Disciplinary Tribunal.
The workload can vary but would typically be between three and five hours per week per PCC.
Members are expected to be reasonably available and able to participate in meetings and interviews during normal business hours.
One member of the PCC will preside. Typically, this involves taking on additional administrative responsibilities, taking the lead in meetings and interviews, and ensuring the PCC is progressing in a timely fashion. The presiding member can be a lay member or a registered social worker, and we are interested to hear from people who would be willing to take on the presiding member role.
Members are paid for their time participating in PCCs. The current rate is $50ph for normal lay members, and $80ph for presiding members.
You can read more in the role description attached.

Expressing an interest in the role
We are seeking interest from people with a range of experiences and backgrounds, including:

- Tangata whenua
- Pacific peoples
- people from diverse cultural groups across New Zealand.

Please highlight any of the following skills and experience you may be able to bring to the role:

- Knowledge of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Tikanga and the effects of colonisation
- Familiarity with natural justice and administrative fairness
- Formal writing
- Critical and reflective decision-making
- Effective information assessment across a variety of sources
- Empathy and insight into the experiences of others.

There will be a selection process including interviews, after which, successful applicants will be offered a contract.