Reporting a criminal offence

The National Law restricts the use of protected titles. This means it is unlawful for someone to use a title such as chiropractor or dentist to make someone believe they are a registered health professional.

Other offences include:

• using a specialist title without specialist registration
• leading someone to believe someone else is registered as one of the following health professions.

Restricted acts are health procedures or services that can only be performed by specific kinds of registered health professional.

Restricted dental acts

Restricted dental acts include irreversible procedures on the teeth, jaw and associated structures. Restricted dental acts can only be carried out by individuals who are:

• a registered dental or medical practitioner
• a dental or medical student performing the procedure as part of an approved program of study
• ordered to do so by a dentist or dental prosthetist, or
• otherwise authorised to carry out the act.

Restricted prescription of optical appliances

Optical appliances are those designed to correct, remedy or relieve any refractive abnormality or sight defect, including:

• spectacle lenses (glasses)
• contact lenses where they are designed to correct, remedy or relieve a sight defect.

A restricted prescription of optical appliances can only be provided by individuals who are:

• a registered optometrist or medical practitioner
• an orthoptist if the optical appliance is spectacles and whose name is recorded in the Register of Orthoptists, or
• otherwise authorised to prescribe the optical appliance.

Restricted spinal manipulation

Manipulation of the cervical spine (the neck) means moving the joints beyond a person’s usual physiological range of motion using a high velocity, low amplitude thrust.

A person must not perform manipulation of the cervical spine unless they are:

• registered in an appropriate health profession (chiropractor, osteopath, medical practitioner or physiotherapist)
• a student performing the manipulation as part of an approved program of study, or
• otherwise authorised to perform the procedure.

It is unlawful for someone to claim to be a registered health practitioner when they are not. We call this ‘holding out’.

Holding out includes using a title, name, initial, symbol, word or description that could be reasonably understood that an individual is a health practitioner or qualified to practise in a registered health profession.

It is also an offence for someone to:

• hold out to be registered in a division of a health profession when they are not
• claim to be qualified to practise as a health practitioner
• claim to be a specialist practitioner if they are not registered in that recognised specialty
• claim someone else is a registered health practitioner or holds specialist registration when they do not.

A person must not advertise a regulated health service or business providing a regulated health service in a way that:

• is false, misleading or deceptive
• uses gifts or discounts without the terms and conditions of the offer
• uses a testimonial or alleged testimonial
• creates an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment
• directly or indirectly encourages the unnecessary use of regulated health services.

National Boards have advertising guidelines for each regulated health profession. You can view information about advertising on our Advertising hub.

It is not an offence for someone to print or publish an advertisement for another person as part of their business.

You can find out more about each of the offences above in sections 113 to 123 of the National Law.

Criminal offence complaints lodged with Ahpra are managed by the Criminal Offences and Litigation Unit. Watch the following short video, to learn more about this process.

The police may need to investigate offences that sit outside the scope of the National Law.

If you are raising a concern about a health practitioner because of violence, sexual assault, or serious misconduct (e.g. fraud), we strongly recommend making a report with the police.

You can call the Police Assistance Line on 131 444 or visit your local police station for further guidance.

Administrative management deals with low and moderate risk offences. These offences are closed following compliance.

Major and critical risk offences are allocated to an inspector within the Criminal Offences and Litigation Unit for investigation. These offences often relate to allegations of holding out or restricted acts that pose a high risk to the public.

An investigation determines whether the offence is suitable for prosecution.

Ahpra prosecutes individuals where:

• the prosecution is in the public interest, and
• there is a reasonable prospect of a conviction.

Where prosecution is not considered the appropriate action, other regulatory actions will be considered, such as referral to another law enforcement or regulatory agency.

Ahpra will educate the individual or organisation and monitor their response to ensure compliance with the National Law. We may re-open an investigation if we believe further offences have occurred.

The penalties for offences include:

• a fine of up to $60,000 per offence for an individual or $120,000 per offence for a corporation, and/or
• a maximum three-year term of imprisonment per offence.

We understand that reporting an offence can be stressful. We do everything we can to minimise the impact of being involved in an investigation.