Three concurrent Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Tribunal) matters have found that the immediate action taken to supervise the practices of Dr Farshchi, a registered acupuncturist, chiropractor and medical practitioner, was appropriate.
Dr Farshchi had been arrested and charged with serious “forced labour” offences for:
- causing a person to enter into or remain in forced labour; and
- conducting a business involving forced labour.
The offences related to Dr Farshchi’s employment of an Iranian refugee (referred to as “X”), who was often required to work in excess of 14 hour days without breaks, with insufficient or no pay. When X raised the issue of his payments or wanted to resign, Dr Farshchi allegedly made threats against his life and security. When the stress of his job caused X to vomit or to suffer pain in his legs and back, he recalled Dr Farshchi giving him Suboxone and Tramadol to ensure he could keep working. After taking the Suboxone on one occasion, X suffered a seizure and collapsed at work.
The Chinese Medicine, Chiropractic and Medical Boards of Australia responded to these charges by taking immediate action under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (Victoria) Act 2009. The immediate action imposed by each Board largely mirrored one another, requiring Dr Farshchi to be supervised by another registered practitioner when practising in each of his respective areas. The purpose of this action was to ensure the necessary level of oversight would be undertaken pending the outcome of his criminal proceedings.
The Tribunal found that the immediate action was warranted “in order to protect, uphold and give effect to the very principles which lie behind registration in each of the health professions in which Dr Farshchi practises”. It was held that, until the criminal matters had been resolved, it “would be counter to the public interest for Dr Farshchi to continue unrestricted practice”.
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