Tribunal disqualifies former nurse for false criminal history declarations

21 Feb 2018

A tribunal has disqualified a former nurse from applying for re-registration, after she made false declarations about her criminal history.

The State Administrative Tribunal of Western Australia (the tribunal) found Mrs Jane Nicole Trigg behaved in a way that constitutes professional misconduct and disqualified her from applying for re-registration as a nurse for seven months.

On 1 July 2010, Mrs Trigg obtained registration as a registered nurse in Australia. In November 2010, Mrs Trigg became aware she had been charged with fraud in the United Kingdom (UK), relating to her previous practice as a nurse in the UK.

In her applications for registration renewal each year from 2010 to 2016, Mrs Trigg declared she had no criminal history and/or that there had been no change to her criminal history, when she knew, or ought to have known, those declarations were false.

On 28 September 2017, Mrs Trigg was convicted of fraud charges in the UK and sentenced to 12 weeks of imprisonment, suspended for 12 months.

On 13 October 2017, the NMBA refused to renew Mrs Trigg’s registration.

Mrs Trigg admitted the facts, that she had engaged in professional misconduct and that she had improperly obtained her registration as a registered nurse in Australia, and the matter was resolved by consent.

The tribunal reprimanded Mrs Trigg and disqualified her from applying for registration for a period of seven months. Mrs Trigg agreed to pay a contribution of $1,200 towards the NMBA’s costs.

The decision is published on the tribunal website.