Former physiotherapist convicted for claiming to be registered and providing fake documents
11 Oct 2023
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Ms Carmela Gilpo previously held limited registration as a physiotherapist in NSW at various times between 2018 and 2020. Limited registration is granted to practitioners who hold qualifications in their profession but who are required by the Physiotherapy Board of Australia (the Board) to practise under supervision or to sit an examination or assessment to qualify for general registration.
Ms Gilpo failed to renew her registration with the Board in November 2020, despite receiving reminder notices from the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra). She applied for registration on 24 November 2020 but failed to provide the necessary information to support the application. The application was withdrawn on 23 March 2021.
Ms Gilpo continued to work for more than a year while knowing she was not registered and completed 258 shifts at a physiotherapy clinic in Caringbah, NSW.
On 20 October 2021 Ms Gilpo provided a fake registration certificate to her migration agent, who was assisting with her visa application with the Department of Home Affairs.
When queried about her registration status because her name could not be found on Ahpra’s public Register of Practitioners, Ms Gilpo continued to falsely maintain that she was registered. On 17 December 2021 she gave her migration agent more fake documents which she claimed were an email and letter from Ahpra.
Ms Gilpo did not tell her employer her registration had lapsed, and her employer only discovered she was unregistered when it was bought to their attention by her migration agent in December 2021.
On 1 November 2022, Ahpra charged Ms Gilpo with three counts of holding herself out as a registered physiotherapist and one count of using the protected title ‘physiotherapist’ when she was not registered in breach of the National Law.
Ahpra and the Board work together to protect the public by ensuring that only registered health practitioners who are suitably qualified and fit to practise can claim to be registered. Falsely claiming to be a registered health practitioner is a criminal offence under the National Law.
Ms Gilpo was sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order in relation to her holding out as a registered physiotherapist by continuing to practise after her registration had lapsed. She was fined $4,400 in relation to the fake documents and $800 for using the protected title. She was also ordered to pay Ahpra’s legal costs of $7,700.
In sentencing Ms Gilpo, Deputy Chief Magistrate Theo Tsavdaridis said that ‘public interest and public safety is the ultimate and paramount consideration. There is a reason why there is a registration process that is so rigorous, and that is to uphold the standards and expectations of the public.’
Ahpra Acting CEO, Mr Chris Robertson, said Australians expect their health professionals to be registered and conduct their business with honesty and integrity.
‘Ms Gilpo’s behaviour was unacceptable. Only through having current registration can the public be certain that a practitioner has been assessed as someone suitable and eligible to work as a registered health professional in Australia,’ he said.
‘Ahpra is pleased with the court’s decision as it sends a message to all practitioners that working while unregistered and engaging in deceitful and fraudulent conduct will be severely punished.’
Physiotherapy Board Chair Ms Kim Gibson also welcomed the outcome.
‘The judgment is welcomed by the Physiotherapy Board and is a lesson to anyone tempted to flout our rules and registration requirements,’ she said.
‘In this case, Ms Gilpo actively deceived her employer by falsely claiming to be registered. Employers are reminded to regularly check Ahpra’s public Register of Practitioners when they employ a registered health practitioner, to ensure the validity of their employee’s registration status.’
