Latest News of Jul 2026

The Social Welfare Department is now inviting Non-governmental organisations and the bona-fide non-profit making charitable organisations granted tax-exemption status under section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance, Chapter 112, to submit proposals for operating three new Neighbourhood Elderly Centres (NEC) at (i) LG/F, On Sing House, On Lai Court, 15 On Yu Road, Sai Kung; (ii) G/F, Government Accommodation, 18 Shing Fung Road, Kai Tak, Kowloon; and (iii) 4/F, 19 Hoi Ying Road, Site C, Sai Sha, Shap Sze Heung, Tai Po, New Territories.

Please click here for further details.

The proposals shall be submitted by hand on or before 5:00 p.m. on 27 August 2026 (Thursday).

Hong Kong elderly persons applying for or receiving portable cash assistance (including the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) under the Portable CSSA Scheme, and the Old Age Living Allowance and the Old Age Allowance under the Guangdong Scheme and the Fujian Scheme) may, from 6 July 2026 onwards, choose to receive their assistance payments in Hong Kong Dollars (HKD) remitted by the SWD directly into their Mainland HKD bank accounts (Type I accounts) opened at the branches of the Bank of China or the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in Guangdong Province or Fujian Province free of charge.  For details, please click here .

The Government launched the “School-based After School Care Service Scheme” (the Scheme) in the 2023/24 school year to provide focused support for families in need.  With funding from the Community Care Fund (CCF), non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are responsible for operating school-based after school care service at venues provided by schools, with a view to allowing primary students in need to stay after school to receive care and learning support,  thereby reducing the stress on parenting and care on parents/guardians, and at the same time enabling parents/guardians, who originally had to take care of their children after school, to choose to take up jobs and improve their livelihood.  Both single-parent and dual-income families will be benefited. As promulgated in 2025 Policy Address, the Scheme will be enhanced by lifting the cap for the number of places to expand support from primary students and parents in need.  The Scheme will be continued in the 2026/27 school year.  

The Social Welfare Department (SWD) is now inviting eligible NGOs (Paragraph 4 of the Service Specifications) to apply for joining the Scheme for the 2026/27 school year as Approved Service Providers (ASPs).  NGOs interested may liaise with the participating schools according to the location of their service units for discussing the implementation details in accordance with the content, procedures and guidelines set out in the Service Specifications and submit the application form (Annex 1 of the Service Specifications) to CCF Team of SWD as soon as possible*(Paragraph 40 of the Service Specifications).  The list of participating schools will be uploaded to SWD’s website after the briefing. [*If the Scheme is to commence in September 2026, please submit the application form on or before 31 July 2026.]

The Labour and Welfare Bureau/SWD and Education Bureau will form an interdepartmental working group to vet all application forms.  Upon approval of the applications submitted by NGOs, CCF Team of SWD will notify the results within one month after receiving the application forms so that the NGOs and participating schools can implement the after school care service.

To allow interested NGOs and schools having better understanding on the Scheme and the above-mentioned arrangement, the SWD is going to organise an online briefing session with details as follows:

Eligible and interested NGOs may download and return the completed reply slip to the Youth Section of the SWD on or before 13 July 2026 (Monday) by email (email address: sba@swd.gov.hk).

For enquiries, please contact the following responsible officers of the Youth Section:

Online Briefing Reply Slip (in Chinese)
Service Specifications (in Chinese)
Annex 1 – ASP Application Form for 2026/27 School Year (in Chinese)

The Social Welfare Department (SWD) has earlier invited eligible non-governmental organisations to submit proposals to operate the new Special Child Care Centre cum Early Education and Training Centre (SCCC cum EETC) at Hiu Yan Estate, Kwun Tong and a Vetting Committee (VC) was set up to conduct assessment of all the proposals received.  Upon the recommendations of the VC, SWD has selected Heep Hong Society to operate the SCCC cum EETC.

Public Subscription Permit (Solicitation of Signed Authorisation Forms) for the Former Half of 2027 or the whole year of 2027 is open for application from 1 July 2026.The deadline for application is 6:00pm on 31 July 2026.

Enquiries can be made by telephone to 3748 9788; by fax to 2838 0441; or by email to pspenq@swd.gov.hk .

Social Work Training Fund (SWTF) aims to improve the knowledge and skills of social workers in Hong Kong. It supports training programmes on “specialised or advanced social work knowledge and skills” and “management skills related to social work practice”. 

SWTF grants in 2026-27 are now open for application. Organisations and individual social workers may apply for grants from SWTF for training activities within the specified scope. To encourage application, two enhancements are being introduced, namely:

1. for organisations to arrange study tours to the Chinese Mainland (i.e. Type AI activities), the minimum number of participating social workers is lowered from 15 to 10; and
2. for individual social workers to attend short-term courses held in Hong Kong (i.e. Type B activities), the maximum sponsorship amount has been increased from HK$2,000 to HK$2,500 per application. 

For details, please click here.

The Social Welfare Department will issue on 30 June 2026 at the earliest a household-based SIA to CSSA families with children receiving primary or secondary education in receipt of the flat-rate grant for selected items of school related expenses in the 2026/27 school year.  Full SIA for each eligible CSSA family is $1,700 for the 2026/27 school year.

CSSA recipients are not required to make application for the subsidy.  The money will be paid to them on or after 30 June 2026 through the existing CSSA payment method, that is, normally through bank payment credited to the designated bank account.

The Social Welfare Department (SWD) now invites eligible bona-fide non-profit making charitable organisations which, on the date of submission of the proposal, have already been granted tax-exemption status under section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap. 112), to submit proposals for operating a new subvented Day Care Centre for the Elderly (DE) (60 day care places) at G/F, Government Accommodation, 18 Shing Fung Road, Kai Tak.  The closing time and date of submission for proposal is 5:00 p.m. on 31 July 2026.

For information of briefing session, details of Service Specifications, Prescribed Form for Proposal and related documents, please click [here].

As a requirement of the Special Scheme to Import Care Workers for Residential Care Homes (“Special Scheme”), the wages of imported care workers (CWs) must not be lower than the median monthly wage for CWs as compiled by the Census and Statistics Department.

According to the latest statistics of the Census and Statistics Department, the median monthly wage for care worker is HKD$15,500 (9 hours of normal working hours per day excluding meal break).  With effect from 22 June 2026, when the Immigration Department receives the visa/entry permit applications for imported CWs (including replacement of CWs), the wages in the signed standard employment contract must not be lower than the latest median monthly wage for CW.

For details about the Special Scheme, please click [here].

The Social Welfare Department (SWD) has earlier invited eligible non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to submit proposals for operating four new aided standalone child care centres (CCCs) in Kowloon City, Kwun Tong, Tsuen Wan and Tuen Mun.  A Vetting Committee (VC) was set up to conduct assessment of all the proposals received.

Based on the recommendations of the VC, SWD has selected the following NGOs to operate the four new aided standalone CCCs respectively -

1. Tung Wah Group of Hospitals to operate the CCC at 2/F, Podium, KT Marina, 15 Shing Fung Road, Kai Tak, Kowloon City, Kowloon;
2. Hong Kong Christian Service to operate the CCC at 2/F, Wang Chi Court, 7 Wang Chiu Road, Kowloon Bay, Kwun Tong, Kowloon;
3. Hong Kong Young Women’s Christian Association to operate the CCC at 2/F, Joint-user Complex, 65 Wing Shun Street, Tsuen Wan, New Territories;
4. The Boys’ & Girls’ Clubs Association of Hong Kong to operate the CCC at 2/F (Shop 201), Po Tin Shopping Centre, Po Tin Estate, 99 Ming Kum Road, Tuen Mun, New Territories.

The Social Welfare Department (SWD) announced today (June 16) that starting from July 1, three additional residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) located in Shenzhen and Dongguan will join the Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong (the Scheme) as Recognised Service Providers (RSPs) to provide subsidised care and attention places.  Besides, an existing RSP will expand its service scope to provide both subsidised care and attention places and nursing home places.

Together with the existing 26 RCHEs, the total number of RCHEs participating in the Scheme will increase to 29, offering more choices to Hong Kong elderly people who wish to retire in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.  Elderly persons who are waitlisted for subsidised residential care services on the Central Waiting List and would like to join the Scheme may contact their responsible workers to file an application.  

The information of the relevant RCHEs is as follows:

For details of the Scheme, you may click here.

The Social Welfare Department rolls out the three-year “Pilot Programme on Community Living Room” – Tsuen Wan West Community Living Room Project, which is subsidised by the Community Care Fund. For details, please click here.

According to the requirements of the Special Scheme to Import Care Workers for Residential Care Homes (Special Scheme), the wages of imported care workers (CWs) must not be lower than the median monthly wage for CWs as compiled by the Census and Statistics Department.

The latest monthly median monthly wage for CW will be announced on the Social Welfare Department website in around late June 2026 and take immediate effect upon release.  For the visa/entry permit applications for imported CWs (including replacement of CWs) received by the Immigration Department from the date of the release, the wages in the signed standard employment contracts must not be lower than the latest median monthly wage for CW.

For details of the Special Scheme, please click [here].

The Legislative Council passed the Appropriation Bill 2026 on 29 April 2026 for implementing the measures as announced by the Financial Secretary on 25 February 2026 to provide additional one month of standard rate for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients and additional one month of allowance for Old Age Allowance (OAA) [including OAA under the Guangdong (GD) Scheme and Fujian (FJ) Scheme], Old Age Living Allowance (OALA) (including OALA under the GD Scheme and FJ Scheme) and Disability Allowance recipients under the Social Security Allowance Scheme.

Eligible recipients will receive the one-off additional payment starting from 22 May 2026 and the payment will be credited to the designated bank accounts in Hong Kong of the recipients.  Recipients are not required to make separate application.

The list of the first batch of approved applications for the Twelfth Tranche of the Innovation and Technology Fund for Application in Elderly and Rehabilitation Care has been released.  For details, please click here.

To ensure all registered health workers undergo renewal registration in accordance with relevant legal provision orderly, Social Welfare Department (SWD) has notified in-service health workers to submit renewal applications through their home managers of residential care homes and the arrangement is close to completion.  SWD is now going to proceed the next phase for renewal of registration and will invite non in-service health workers (who have registered before 16 June 2024) via emails to submit renewal applications by batches, according to their year of birth. For details, please click here.

The invitation of Residential Care Homes for the Elderly for joining the Residential Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly (the Scheme) as Recognised Service Providers in February 2026 was closed on 30 April 2026.  The applicants will be informed of the outcomes of the assessment in August 2026.  

The next round of applications will be launched in the final quarter of 2026.  The related details will be announced at appropriate time in the “What’s New” of SWD website.  For enquiries, please contact the following responsible officers of Residential Care Service Voucher Office:

Information on additional and planned places of rehabilitation services for the period of April 2026 to June 2026 has been announced.  Please download the information here.

The Thirteenth Tranche of the Innovation and Technology Fund for Application in Elderly and Rehabilitation Care (I&T Fund) is open for application from 13 April 2026 to 13 July 2026.  For details, please click here and refer to the invitation letter issued by the Social Welfare Department on 13 April 2026 to all eligible organisations.

• Starting from 28 July 2023, the Social Welfare Department (SWD) expands the Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong. The expansion measures include to invite applications from operators of residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) with experience and satisfactory track records in providing subsidised elderly residential care services in Hong Kong and are operating RCHE(s) in Mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) to register their RCHE(s) in GBA cities as the Recognised Service Provider (RSP) under the GDRCS Scheme. The deadline for accepting application for this year is on 30 April 2026 and results are expected to be announced by year end.
• For the details of the Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong, you may click here. 
• Joining the Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong as Recognised Service Providers, please click here to download the Invitation for Proposal and annexes. (Chinese version only)
• For enquiries, you may contact the Residential Care Services Section of Elderly Branch.

• Starting from 28 July 2023, the Social Welfare Department (SWD) expands the Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong. The expansion measures include to cover elderly persons waitlisting under the Central Waiting List for subsidised nursing home places.
• Currently, nursing home places are provided at The Hong Kong Jockey Club Shenzhen Society for Rehabilitation Yee Hong Heights and The Hong Kong Jockey Club Helping Hand Zhaoqing Home for the Elderly only.

Eligibility Criteria
The elderly persons who have been assessed and matched for residential care services under the Standardised Care Need Assessment Mechanism for Elderly Services and are waitlisted for subsidised care and attention places or nursing home places on the Central Waiting List (CWL) for Subsidised Long Term Care (LTC) Services.

How to Apply

1. Elderly persons who are waitlisted for subsidised residential care services in the CWL and would like to apply for the Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong may contact their responsible workers to file an application for GDRCS Scheme.
2. New applicants of LTC services may approach Medical Social Services Units, Integrated Family Service Centres or elderly centres to make an application and request for referral for subsidised LTC services.  Through initial screening and assessment as appropriate, they may apply for LTC service, including GDRCS Scheme, in accordance with their assessment results after their care needs have been ascertained in the Standardised Care Needs Assessment.

• For the details of the Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong, you may click here.
• For enquiries, you may contact the Residential Care Services Section of Elderly Branch at 2961 7234.

For details of the SPED and application eligibility, please click here.