Legal action

Independent tribunals and panels decide the most serious allegations

• 374 matters (371 notifications, 3 compliance breaches) were the subject of ongoing tribunal proceedings at 30 June, compared with 358 matters last year.
• 126 tribunal matters were finalised:
  • 121 matters were decided by a tribunal, 96.7% resulting in disciplinary action; National Boards continue to appropriately identify the thresholds for referring a matter to a tribunal to protect the public
  • 5 matters were withdrawn or did not proceed to a tribunal because: the practitioner was deceased (4 matters), and a separate tribunal matter was withdrawn in Western Australia when it became clear that co-regulatory authorities in New South Wales had addressed the same conduct in separate proceedings (1 matter). 
• 19 matters were decided by panels with more than 80% resulting in regulatory action.

Tribunal decisions

National Boards refer serious matters to tribunals in each state and territory. Only a tribunal can cancel a practitioner’s registration, disqualify a person from applying for registration for a time or prohibit a person from using a specified title or providing a specified health service.

We include links to published adverse tribunal (disciplinary) decisions and court outcomes for a practitioner on the online Register of practitioners, if the name of the practitioner has not been suppressed by the court or tribunal.

When a court or tribunal cancels a practitioner’s registration or disqualifies them from applying for registration, or using a specified title, or providing a specified health service, this is recorded in the online Register of cancelled practitioners.

When a tribunal reprimands, suspends or places conditions on the registration of a practitioner, this is recorded on the online Register of practitioners.

Some serious allegations are referred to tribunals

Matters included findings of professional misconduct involving:

• family violence offending and other serious criminal offending
• sexual boundary breaches and other general boundary breaches such as inappropriate relationships with patients
• misappropriating or prescribing of ‘peptides’ or other drugs that are at risk of misuse/abuse, for non-therapeutic purposes
• failure to comply with conditions imposed on registration by a Board or a panel
• continuing to practise when registration has lapsed or not been renewed
• inappropriate commentary on social media
• providing treatments for which the practitioner was not qualified.
• Significant periods of disqualification were imposed in appropriate matters, including in matters involving:
• misappropriation of drugs by a registered nurse (three years)
• a former dental practitioner who maintained false, misleading and inaccurate records and recorded procedures or tests that had not been performed and who made fraudulent claims to a health insurer for those procedures (five years).

Panel decisions

A National Board establishes health or professional standards panels to decide matters when appropriate. Panels must include members from the relevant health profession and community members. All health panels must include a medical practitioner.