Federation of Professional Associations slams lack of consultation on legal changes to professions

The Malta Federation of Professional Associations (MFPA) has expressed its concern about the presentation of a Bill, Motion no. 267, to amend three different laws relating to Social Wellbeing Regulated Professions. These amendments concern socia

By: independent.com.mt

Jul 02 2024
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Federation of Professional Ass

These amendments concern social workers, psychologists and counsellors, whose professional organisations, the Maltese Association of Social Workers (MASW), Malta Chamber of Psychologists (MCP) and Malta Association for the Counselling Profession (MACP), are all members of MFPA.

The Federation, which comprises 17 professional organisations, said in a statement that it has on several occasions reiterated that these organisations have vast expertise in their respective professions, professional standard levels and the needs of the services in Malta, and as such these bodies should be consulted for any matters pertaining to their professions.

MFPA said it has been informed that a Bill to introduce articles entitled “Appeals Committee” in the Acts of the Social Work, Counselling and Psychology Professions, was tabled to Parliament last week, with the second reading being already held on Monday. Moreover, the Bill proposes changes to the qualifications criteria that the Warranting Board for the Psychology Profession is authorised to recognise.

“None of MASW, MCP, MACP or MFPA itself were consulted about these amendments which are of great concern to all the organisations,” the MFPA said.

The MFPA said that it believes that as a democratic country, any individual has a right to appeal to a decision. However, the composition of such an appeals board must be such that whilst respecting the individual in question, takes into account the safeguarding of the professional standards in our country and hence the service that citizens receive.

“The proposed composition of all three appeals boards in this Bill is of: an advocate, a professional in the respective field and a member appointed by the Minister whose profession is not specified. This means that only 1 out of 3 members of the Appeals Board would be coming from the concerned profession, not to mention that it is a very small Board,” the MFPA said.

“This is in contrast to, for instance, healthcare professions Appeals Boards which include representatives from the University of Malta, the Superintendence of Public Health and two professionals of the concerned field (one nominated by the Prime Minister and the other elected). Moreover, this draft gives the power to the Appeals Committee to overrule any decision made by the Warranting Board, hence weakening the purpose of the Warranting Board itself. It is also not clear to MFPA why the Bill is proposing changes to the recognition of qualifications for the Psychology Profession. The Malta Chamber of Psychologists, which is also the psychologists’ union, was totally unaware of such a proposal,” the MFPA continued.

“Why were none of the professional organisations mentioned consulted about these amendments? Also, considering that most Bills often take months to be read and discussed, why this Bill being given so much importance to be hastily presented?”

MFPA called on the authorities to listen to the expert advice of professionals within their respective field.

The Federation said that it is willing to contribute to a discussion towards any necessary amendments, and therefore, asks the Government and the Opposition to consult with the respective professional organisations before proceeding with further discussions in Parliament and final voting.

MFPA stressed that the wellbeing of all citizens should be in the forefront and that they deserve to have professionals with the necessary and right qualifications that ensure a safe service, especially to vulnerable people.