Illegal work at four aged care facilities among recent prosecutions

Ahpra has highlighted three recent criminal cases involving health practitioners working illegally, including the first prosecution of a medical radiation practitioner.

Radiographer Dean Brockdorff pleaded guilty and was sentenced in the Local Court of NSW to four counts of holding himself out as a registered practitioner while providing mobile radiography services at four aged care facilities.

Brockdorff was convicted of three of the offences and fined $5500 — for one offence he was convicted with no further penalty. He was also ordered to pay $6500 in legal costs to Ahpra.

For holding Brockdorff out as a registered health practitioner in contravention of Section 116 of the National Law, charges were also laid against Brockdorff’s employer, Mobile X- Ray Services Pty Ltd.

Mobile X- Ray Services pleaded guilty to four counts of holding Brockdorff out as a registered radiographer and was fined $4150 and ordered to pay costs of $6500 on 6 February this year.

An anonymous tip-off to the aged care facilities in May 2023 brought the issue to a head, Ahpra said. Mobile X-Ray Services stood down Brockdorff and Ahpra said that there is no suggestion that Brockdorff caused any harm to patients during the period he worked without registration.

Magistrate Danielle Mansour said the offences were serious and involved services provided to vulnerable patients. “They deserved and should have had the benefit of the oversight, the licensing and the protection that the associated insurance would have provided,” Mansour said in sentencing.

“I have to send a message to everyone that non-compliance with these very strict licensing regimes will not be tolerated because there needs to be the protection of the community. The community has to trust in there being this oversight, this regime, so they can ensure that they are safe from both injury and also financial consequences.”

Cara Miller, Chair of the Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia, said this was the first prosecution involving a medical radiation practitioner providing health services while unregistered.

Ahpra also highlighted a recent, unrelated case of a nurse who worked unregistered at two regional health services in NSW — sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order and ordered to pay $9000 in legal costs.

The woman had previously been registered as an enrolled nurse but failed to renew her registration, which lapsed in July 2023. Despite receiving multiple renewal reminders, she continued working unregistered.

The woman contacted Ahpra in August 2023 seeking information about how to regain registration, however failed to act on the advice and worked for a further 16 months. Her employer identified the lapse during a routine audit in January 2025 and stood her down.

There is no suggestion the woman caused harm to any patients during this period, Ahpra, adding that due to personal circumstances, the woman is not being named. In January this year, the woman pleaded guilty in the Dubbo Local Court to one count of holding herself out as a registered health practitioner.

“You became aware that your registration had lapsed and while knowing you were unregistered you continued to work,” Magistrate Brett Shields said in sentencing. “This was not simply an oversight.

“People need to understand the obligation to be registered. The whole point of (the registration scheme) is the maintenance of standards,” Shields added.

“Working while unregistered is not a paperwork error, it can be a criminal offence,” Ahpra CEO Justin Untersteiner said.

Anyone with concerns about whether a health provider is registered can check the online Register of practitioners maintained by Ahpra or call 1300 419 495.

Image credit: iStock.com/Inside Creative House. Stock image used is for illustrative purposes only.