WSS v Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency Queensland

The matter before the court was an application by a medical practitioner, the applicant, against the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency Queensland, the second respondent. The applicant sought a statutory order of review of a decision made by the second respondent in September 2023, refusing an application by the applicant to remove a condition on his registration as a medical practitioner. The condition prohibited the applicant from practising in any position in a hospital setting. The applicant had previously been subject to a range of conditions on his registration, imposed by the Medical Board of Australia, Queensland Notifications Committee, following complaints about his clinical care and conduct. After the applicant appealed to QCAT, the conditions were set aside and new conditions imposed, including the prohibition on practising in a hospital setting. The applicant subsequently moved to New South Wales, where his registration was suspended by the Medical Council of New South Wales. The applicant appealed the September 2023 decision to QCAT, but his appeal was dismissed because it was out of time, and an extension of time was refused.

The legal issues before the court were whether the application for review should be dismissed, on the basis that another law, namely the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (Queensland), provides for an avenue of review of the decision, the application lacks futility because the applicant is not currently a registered medical practitioner, the application was commenced out of time and, in any event, lacks merit. The court considered the relevant statutory provisions and concluded that the application should be dismissed. The court held that the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (Queensland) provides for an avenue of review of the decision, and that the applicant had not demonstrated that the application was not futile, or that the application was not out of time or lacked merit.

The court dismissed the application for review and ordered that the applicant pay the respondents’ costs of the proceeding. The court held that the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (Queensland) provides for an avenue of review of the decision, and that the applicant had not demonstrated that the application was not futile, or that the application was not out of time or lacked merit. The court also noted that the applicant was no longer a registered medical practitioner in Queensland, and that the application was therefore unlikely to have any practical effect. The court dismissed the application and ordered that the applicant pay the respondents’ costs of the proceeding.