A New South Wales formerly Accredited Exercise Physiologist and Occupational Therapist has been sentenced to 6 years imprisonment for committing fraud against the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
The individual was found guilty on 22 counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception in which they made false reports to claim more than $500,000 dishonestly.
Since 2020 when the charges were laid, Exercise & Sports Science Australia (ESSA) has cooperated with authorities and the NDIS, who led the criminal investigation.
ESSA President Dr Brendan Joss said the outcome of the case is a reminder to practitioners that there is no place for fraud and deception in the practice of exercise physiology.
“As the regulatory body, ESSA condemns any kind of fraudulent behaviour; it is our purpose to help people, not take advantage of them.
“Accredited Exercise Physiologists must meet national standards to assure the public that we operate to the highest degree.
“All professionals are obligated to inform ESSA within 7 days of all charges and investigations (including ethics), in line with our Mandatory Declarations Policy.
“Individuals are also obliged to notify ESSA in the same timeframe of any changes to their work or provider status and outcomes of declared investigations, or they will bear the consequences of disciplinary action,” Dr Joss said.
When ESSA received notification of the case, an audit of the individual was conducted to review their accreditation requirements. The audit revealed a false declaration, in which the requirement for the individual to inform ESSA within 7 days of having their NDIS provider status revoked was not fulfilled.
Their accreditation status was promptly suspended.
The ESSA Code of Professional Conduct and Ethical Practice sets out the professional practice expectations of accredited individuals, including the requirement to be aware of and comply with all external requirements that apply to practice.
“The Code of Professional Conduct is there to remind practitioners of their obligations, while holding them to account if required to protect clients,” Dr Joss said.
“They must always ensure accurate record keeping and cooperate with any legitimate enquiry. Falsifying financial records in this case was found to be deliberate attempts to obtain financial advantage. This is unacceptable.”
ESSA members and accredited professionals are encouraged to familiarise themselves with our existing education pathways about compensable scheme compliance, which are constantly reviewed to ensure best practice.
In this case, ESSA could not have detected the fraud as it could only have been identified through external regulatory billing systems.
However, there are two ways ESSA can be made aware of such incidences; through a criminal history declaration (as relevant in this case) or via a complaint made to ESSA.
Professionals, clients or members of the public that suspect an accredited professional has breached the ESSA Code of Conduct, please visit our website or contact us.
All ethics and disciplinary cases are treated confidentially.