Former practitioner loses latest appeal following hospital dismissal and registration refusal

15 Oct 2020

The Queensland Court of Appeal (COA) has dismissed Mr John Chibanda’s application for an extension of time to jointly appeal a 2010 decision made by the then Medical Board of Queensland (MBQ) to refuse his renewal for special purpose registration, as well as a separate decision made by Queensland Health in relation to his performance.

Mr Chibanda graduated from the University of Zimbabwe and obtained special purpose registration to work in Emerald, Queensland in 2008 and 2009. In September 2009, Queensland Health raised issues about Mr Chibanda’s performance and in November 2009 he was suspended by Queensland Health pending an investigation and disciplinary action.

The MBQ subsequently commenced an investigation into these matters and in relation to a criminal conviction Mr Chibanda received in Zimbabwe. On 17 February 2010, MBQ refused Mr Chibanda’s application for renewal of special purpose registration. Mr Chibanda’s employment with Queensland Health was terminated. Mr Chibanda also appealed the outcome by way of judicial review in the Supreme Court which was dismissed in June 2018. It was following this decision that Mr Chibanda subsequently filed an appeal in the COA in August 2018.

On 30 June 2020, the COA:

• granted Mr Chibanda an extension of time to file the appeal (which was not opposed);
• dismissed Mr Chibanda's application to adduce fresh evidence regarding the delay in applying for Judicial review; and
• dismissed the appeal with costs, noting that no error has been identified and that 'as the application for judicial review and the appeal face fundamental difficulties, it is unnecessary to analyse the grounds of appeal.'

Mr Chibanda was ordered to pay the Board’s costs.

The full findings are available on the Austlii website. The 2018 Supreme Court decision can be found here.