Tribunal reprimands Chinese medicine practitioner

23 Jun 2016

A tribunal has found a Chinese medicine practitioner behaved in a way that constitutes professional misconduct and reprimanded him.

The Chinese Medicine Board of Australia (the Board) referred Mr Graeme Lindsay Garvin to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) and alleged he had behaved in a way that constituted professional misconduct.

The first ground of misconduct was that Mr Garvin had pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on 7 June 2013 and convicted of indecent and unlawful assault for holding a female patient’s breasts without her consent during a massage in November 2012.

The second ground of misconduct is that he failed to notify the Board within seven days of his conviction, as he was required to do by law.

Mr Garvin’s registration lapsed on 30 November 2013, and it was not renewed. Mr Garvin ceased practice in November 2012.

On 23 June 2015 QCAT found Mr Garvin had engaged in professional misconduct, reprimanded him and ordered him to pay the Board’s legal costs. Mr Garvin was not registered at the time of QCAT’s decision.

The full reasons for QCAT’s decision are published on the AustLII website.