Former physiotherapist who kept practising found guilty of 29 offences

18 Dec 2020

A Western Australian man who held himself out as a physiotherapist while not registered has been convicted by the Perth Magistrates Court.

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) prosecuted Mr Ieuan Christopher Lakay for holding himself out as a registered physiotherapist in his treatment of four patients at two different clinics in Perth during 2019.

Mr Lakay had previously been registered as a physiotherapist in 2010, however, he failed to renew his registration in August 2011 and has not been registered with the Physiotherapy Board of Australia since then.

Mr Lakay pleaded guilty to all charges and was ordered to perform 200 hours of unpaid community work, and to pay Ahpra’s costs of $10,000. A conviction was recorded.

The Magistrate commented that Mr Lakay had previously been warned about breaching the National Law¹ and he continued to practise ‘contemptuously’ despite being unregistered, risking the welfare of patients.

Physiotherapy Board of Australia Chair Kim Gibson welcomed the outcome.

‘Physiotherapists are a trusted part of the community. Patients rightly expect they are seeing a registered practitioner when they seek physiotherapy services. Abuse of this trust and purposely misleading patients, as demonstrated in this case, is unacceptable. We are pleased with this outcome,’ Ms Gibson said.

Anyone with concerns about whether an individual is registered with a national health practitioner board can check the online register of practitioners maintained by Ahpra or contact Ahpra on 1300 419 495.

For more information:

• Find out more about how to report an offence.
• For media enquiries: (03) 8708 9200.
• Lodge an online enquiry form.
• For registration enquiries: 1300 419 495 (within Australia) +61 3 9285 3010 (overseas callers).

¹ The Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, as in force in each state and territory (the National Law).