The ABC reports the arrest on the Gold Coast of a 45 year old woman, charged under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law with pretending to be a doctor.
She had been issuing fake COVID-19 "medical exemption" certificates, allegedly issuing around 600 false certificates.
Police issued a search warrant on Wednesday morning for an address in Labrador and arrested the woman, who is from Darling Heights in the Toowoomba region.
She was charged under Health Practitioner National Law with five counts of taking a title indicating a person is a health practitioner.
In this instance there is coverage under Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (Queensland) ss 113, 115, 116, 117 and 118 alongside associated advertising provisions.
The first conviction under the National Law was in 2014, with Jayne Walton being prosecuted by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), found guilty of using the title ‘psychologist’ and claiming to be a registered psychologist, and ordered to pay fines totaling $20,000. Other health practitioner title offences - a form of identity crime - are noted elsewhere in this blog, for example here.
The woman is reported as having charged $150 per fake certificate and claim that "her interpretation of the legislation" authorises her to issue the certificates even thougfh she is not a registered practitioner. It is unclear if people who paid for the certificates were aware they were not genuine; purchasers who were aware that the certificates were fake could potentially be charged with fraud-related offences.
Subsequent reports indicate that the woman recently gained a doctorate in Professional Research (Addiction) at the University of Southern Queensland, claims experience as a patient in psychiatric institutions in four countries and is a "spiritual insights" and recovery coach.
Her Amazon books profile states
She now spends her days with her life partner and spiritual advisor, Venerable Monk Xu. They have joined forces to ensure their mission reaches a higher purpose and together have opened a small sanctuary that seeks to spiritually enlighten, train (body mastery), teach and coach hundreds of people to turn away from addiction and live a life of dedication and purpose.
She continually fills her mind with self-development, educational and academic pursuits of excellence and just recently completed her Master of Public Health (MPH) at University of Queensland (Ranked 47th Best University in the World). Her passion, Coaching With Substance is a registered Public Benevolent Institution with a charitable vision to eradicate the harms caused by addiction, addictive behaviours and co-morbid mental illnesses, one client at a time. As the Founder, she spends her waking moments dedicated to her cause & life purpose.
