This article reports on a comparative study that examined the political participation of social workers in KwaZulu‐Natal province in South Africa, the state of New South Wales (excluding the Hunter region) in Australia, and New Zealand. Each of these contexts had roughly the same number of social workers, that is, approximately 1,200. It was found that social workers in New Zealand tended to be more politically active than their counterparts in New South Wales and KwaZulu‐Natal, and the reasons for this are examined. In the process, New Zealand is presented as a case study of the way in which social work has responded to its political context. Finally, conclusions are drawn as to the engagement of social workers in the policy cycle and of the need for them to become more active politically.

This article compares the processes of registration of social workers in the UK and New Zealand. Its findings are that registration is linked, not to the development of codes of ethics, but to regulation based on codes of conduct. This leads to a discussion of the implications for ethical practice

This paper, through the use of experience and observation, explores the way social work registration has been implemented and developed in the last 10 years. The argument will be developed that this process has not been inclusive, and has not responded to the critique of academics and practitioners. Furthermore, it will be argued that the Board has gone beyond its mandate through its involvement in raising the bar in terms of registrable qualifications. This included moving from diploma to degree and latterly increasing the length of degrees from three to four years.