AHPRA & Health Ombudsman Experience
Show Cause & Disciplinary Response Experience
Legal Services Commission & Professional Body Matters
Experience Where Discipline Meets Criminal Law
Recognised by Doyle’s Guide
Strategic Advice from the First Complaint
A Complaint or Investigation Demands Early, Careful Advice
A disciplinary matter often begins quietly. A notification to your regulator, a complaint from a patient, client or colleague, a request that you respond, or a show cause notice may be the first sign that your registration is under scrutiny.
What you do next matters. A response prepared without careful legal advice can shape the entire course of an investigation, and words used early can be difficult to take back.
For a registered professional, the consequences reach well beyond the immediate complaint. Conditions on your registration, suspension, or the loss of your right to practise can affect your income, your career and your standing among your peers. Where the same conduct is also being examined by police or a criminal regulator, the two processes can influence one another in ways that are easy to underestimate.
At Robertson O’Gorman, we help you understand the process, respond strategically and protect your position. We work to preserve your registration and your reputation while managing the risk that a disciplinary matter and a criminal matter can create for one another.
When your career and reputation are at stake, early legal advice can make all the difference.
Professional Discipline & Regulatory Services
Robertson O’Gorman advises and represents professionals at every stage of a disciplinary matter, from the first complaint or notification through to hearings, tribunal proceedings and appeals.
Complaints & Notifications
Advice and representation when a complaint or mandatory notification has been made about you to a regulator or professional body.
Regulatory Investigations
Strategic guidance through investigatory processes, including requests for information, interviews and the production of documents.
Show Cause Notices
Careful, strategic responses to show cause notices and requests to respond, where the wording of your response can shape the outcome.
Immediate Registration Action
Advice and representation where a regulator proposes to suspend your registration or impose conditions on an urgent or interim basis.
Disciplinary Hearings & Tribunal Proceedings
Representation in disciplinary proceedings before boards, panels and tribunals, including QCAT.
Professional Misconduct & Unsatisfactory Conduct Allegations
Defence of allegations of professional misconduct, unsatisfactory professional conduct and breaches of professional obligations.
Appeals & Reviews
Advice and representation in appeals and reviews, including to QCAT and other appellate bodies.
Where Discipline Meets Criminal Law
Coordinated advice where a disciplinary matter arises alongside a criminal charge or investigation, so that one process does not compromise the other.
We regularly act for professionals including:
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- Doctors, nurses and other health practitioners (AHPRA and the Office of the Health Ombudsman)
- Lawyers and barristers (the Legal Services Commission)
- Accountants and tax practitioners (CPA Australia, the Tax Practitioners Board and related bodies)
- Financial advisers, company directors and auditors (ASIC)
- Teachers and childcare workers (the Queensland College of Teachers)
- Aviation professionals (CASA)
- Public servants and others subject to disciplinary processes
No matter the profession or the regulator, our focus remains the same: protecting your registration, your reputation and your future.
Why Choose Robertson O’Gorman?
A disciplinary matter is not only a legal problem. It is a threat to your identity as a professional and to everything your career has been built on. These matters call for judgement, discretion and experience.
Recognised By Doyle’s Guide
Our lawyers are recognised by Doyle’s Guide, one of Australia’s leading independent legal directories, reflecting the respect we have earned from peers and clients.
Experience Across Health, Legal and Financial Regulators
We regularly advise health practitioners, lawyers, accountants, financial advisers and other professionals responding to AHPRA, the Office of the Health Ombudsman, the Legal Services Commission, ASIC, CASA and other regulators.
Strong Focus on Show Cause and Disciplinary Responses
We understand how much can turn on a single written response. Our team prepares careful, strategic submissions designed to protect your registration and put your position in its best light.
Experience Where Discipline and Criminal Law Overlap
Many professionals face a regulator and a criminal investigation at the same time. As a specialist criminal defence firm, we are well placed to manage both, so that a step taken in one does not damage you in the other.
Discreet, Senior Representation
We understand the sensitivity of these matters and the importance of confidentiality to your practice and your reputation. Our advice is discreet, considered and delivered by experienced practitioners.
Strategic Advice from the First Complaint
The decisions made when a complaint first arrives can shape everything that follows. We provide clear, strategic advice from the outset, so you know where you stand and what to do next.
When your registration and reputation are on the line, you need lawyers who understand what is truly at stake.
Frequently Asked Questions
A show cause notice is a formal request from a regulator or licensing body asking you to explain, in writing, why action should not be taken against your registration or licence. It usually sets a deadline and specific concerns to respond to. Because your response can shape the outcome, obtain legal advice before you reply.
If AHPRA or the Office of the Health Ombudsman contacts you about a notification or complaint, seek legal advice before responding. How you respond, and what you say, can affect the direction of the investigation. Early advice helps you understand the allegations, your obligations and the best way to protect your registration.
You are generally expected to respond, but you do not have to do it alone. A lawyer can help you prepare a considered, accurate response and, where appropriate, correspond with the regulator on your behalf. This can be particularly important where the matter is serious or where a criminal issue also arises.
In some circumstances a regulator can take immediate or interim action, including suspending your registration or imposing conditions, before a matter is finally decided. If this is proposed, urgent legal advice is important so your position can be put properly and any action responded to quickly.
Broadly, unsatisfactory professional conduct describes conduct that falls below the standard reasonably expected, while professional misconduct describes more serious conduct that is a substantial or consistent failure to meet that standard. The distinction can affect the outcomes available. The precise meaning depends on your profession and the governing legislation, so specific advice should be obtained.
It is not unusual for the same conduct to be examined by a regulator and by police at the same time. The two processes have different rules, and a step taken in one can have consequences in the other. As a specialist criminal defence firm that also acts in disciplinary matters, we can manage both together and coordinate your strategy.
We act for doctors, nurses and other health practitioners, lawyers, accountants and tax practitioners, financial advisers, company directors, teachers, aviation professionals and public servants, in matters before AHPRA, the Office of the Health Ombudsman, the Legal Services Commission, ASIC, CASA and other regulators and tribunals.
In many cases a disciplinary decision can be appealed or reviewed, often to QCAT or another appellate body, usually within strict time limits. If you are considering an appeal, obtain advice promptly so your options can be assessed before any deadline passes.
Whether a disciplinary matter becomes public depends on the regulator, the stage of the process and the nature of any outcome. We understand how important confidentiality and reputation are to professionals, and we take that into account at every stage.
Facing a Complaint, Investigation or Show Cause Notice?
The steps you take early in a disciplinary matter can shape the outcome for your registration, your reputation and your career.
Whether you have received a complaint, a notification, a show cause notice or a request to respond from a regulator, our team is here to help.
Robertson O’Gorman provides strategic, discreet legal advice and representation for professionals facing disciplinary and regulatory matters across Brisbane and Queensland.