The year 2025 was a year full of challenges. The Hong Kong Social Workers Association (the Association) continued to strenously drive its mission of unifying social workers and advancing the profession, and the Association made good progress.

Membership

We in the Association firmly believe that membership is not just a number; it helps the Association drive it mission and create a community for professional social workers to connect, to inspire and to work together. As of 31 December, 2025, the total number of members grew to a total of 1387.

The Heartwarming Awards

In 2024, the Association launched “The Most Heartwarming Social Workers and Social Work Students”Competition to give recognition to those social workers and/or social worker students who had served the community with their “hearts”. This received overwhelming support from the social workers and social work students. A total of 99 applications (90 from social workers and 9 from students) were received.

The Screening Committee, composed of 17 members of diverse background, carefully screened the applications. On the recommendation of the Screening Committee, the Judging Panel selected a total of 10 Most Heartwarming Social Workers Awards and 15 merit awards. The Judging Panel was chaired by Mr. Chris SUN, JP, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, comprising the President of HKSWA, Prof. TAM Kam-lan, Annie, GBS, JP; Deputy Director of Social Welfare, Mr. Alex WONG; President, Hong Kong Association of Schools of Social Work, Prof. NG Siu-man; Mr. HUI Chung-shing, Herman, GBS, MH, JP; Mr. WONG Kwong-yiu, Ricky, MH; and Dr. TIK Chi-yuen, SBS, JP.

The 10 applicants who received the 10 Most Heartwarming Social Workers Awards were introduced to the public for voting via Ming Pao and Jump。 One of them was voted as “the Best of the Most Heartwarming Social Workers”.

The Award Ceremony took place at the 75^th Annual Dinner of the Association on 21 February 2025. The Guest of Honour was Mr. Chris SUN, JP, Secretary for Labour and Welfare.

The Academy of Social Work

The Academy has steadfastly pursued its mission of providing continuous professional development within the social welfare sector. The research for developing the Specific Professional Competency Framework (PCF) for Ethnically Diverse Social Work was started in June 2025. Besides accrediting CPD courses and credentialing social workers, the Academy provided 98 training sessions between October 2023 and September 2024 to advance the competencies of social workers in Hong Kong.

The Social Work Day

The theme of the World Social Work Day 2025 was “Strengthening Intergenerational Solidarity for Enduring Wellbeing”. To support the Social Work Day, a series of events were held, including “Social Workers Forum”involving welfare agencies and social work students, held on 18 March 2025, officiated by Mr. Chris SUN, JP, Secretary for Labour and Welfare and Mr. Edward TO, Director of Social Welfare; “Celebration for the World Social Work Day cum International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination”, held on 17 March 2025, which also marked the 3^rd  anniversary of the Chapter on Ethnically Diverse Social Work; and “Social Worker Run’, held on 13 April 2025, officiated by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare.

Continuing our Journey

I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the Government, funding organisations, donors and our many supporting organisations for their support and encouragement in 2024-25. I would also like to sincerely thank the Council Members, Members, volunteers and the staff team for their passion and dedication. As we embark on 2025-26, the Association will continue to foster its growth for the purpose of better serving our profession.