标签： Oceania

A shocking alleged poisoning incident in a Queensland community has led to a 43-year-old woman facing an attempted murder charge connected to domestic violence, local law enforcement has confirmed. The alleged incident unfolded on March 12 in Yarrabilba, a suburban area located roughly 40 kilometers southeast of Brisbane’s central business district.

Authorities say the woman, who is known to the 10-year-old victim, allegedly poisoned both the child and herself. Shortly after the poison was administered, both individuals began experiencing severe illness including persistent vomiting, prompting emergency responses from local medical services.

Both the woman and the 10-year-old were immediately transported to Logan Hospital for urgent treatment. According to Queensland police updates, the young victim was assessed by medical staff and discharged from the facility the same day the incident occurred. The accused 43-year-old, however, required ongoing inpatient care and remained in the hospital until Friday, when she was medically cleared and transferred directly into police custody.

Following her release from medical care, the woman was formally charged with one count of attempted murder, classified as a domestic violence offense. She has since been remanded in custody ahead of her first court appearance, which is scheduled for May 12 at Beenleigh Magistrates Court. No further details about the motive behind the alleged attack or the identity of the victim have been released publicly as the investigation continues.

A devastating traffic collision has claimed the lives of three people in Western Australia’s Perth Hills region, after the vehicle they were traveling in left the roadway and struck a tree on Saturday morning.

Emergency response teams were dispatched to the accident site on Stoneville Road, located roughly 30 kilometers northeast of Perth’s central business district, shortly after 8:50 a.m. local time, following reports of the crash. All three adult occupants of the car suffered critical, life-ending injuries in the impact, and were pronounced dead at the scene.

In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, Western Australia Police closed the affected stretch of Stoneville Road to all through traffic to preserve the crash site for forensic examination. Major crash investigation specialists from the state police force have now taken charge of the probe to determine the exact cause of the accident, with no further details on potential contributing factors released as of the latest update. Local authorities have advised motorists to avoid the area while investigative work continues.

A decades-long career in general practice has come to an abrupt 18-month suspension for a South Australian physician, after a disciplinary tribunal found he repeatedly violated a standing ban on promoting controversial low-level laser therapy (LLLT) to his patients. The South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal handed down the ruling against Mark Rogers, a long-serving Adelaide-based GP who admitted to an ‘almost delusional, unhealthy obsession’ with the alternative treatment.

The saga of Rogers’ unauthorized practice stretches back more than a decade, court documents show. Seven years ago, regulators first barred Rogers from offering LLLT to his patients, after confirming he made misleading claims about what the therapy could achieve. Most infamously, Rogers had publicly asserted LLLT could be used to treat Alzheimer’s disease, a claim he has since admitted was entirely false.

Rather than adhering to the 2016 ban, the tribunal found Rogers intentionally and blatantly ignored the regulatory order for years, continuing to steer patients toward LLLT throughout the following decade. The Medical Board of Australia eventually referred the case to the tribunal, bringing six separate misconduct charges against Rogers. Those charges covered failures to deliver adequate patient care, failures to disclose clear conflicts of interest, inappropriate financial and commercial arrangements with a patient, distribution of false and misleading medical information, breaches of a formal agreement with the national medical board, and violations of the conditions of his medical registration.

The tribunal upheld all six allegations, confirming that Rogers provided inadequate treatment and dangerous inappropriate advice through his repeated recommendations of LLLT. LLLT, sometimes called cold laser therapy, is a non-invasive procedure that uses low-intensity infrared light, marketed most commonly for pain management and inflammation reduction. The treatment remains deeply controversial in mainstream medicine, with multiple independent clinical trials finding LLLT produces outcomes no better than a placebo for most patients.

What made Rogers’ violations more serious, the tribunal noted, was the undisclosed personal financial stake he held in the therapy, creating an unreported conflict of interest that put his commercial gain ahead of patient welfare. In his testimony to the tribunal, Rogers acknowledged his problematic fixation on LLLT, stating he now hates the treatment and regrets ever becoming involved with it.

However, the tribunal panel ruled that this belated admission was not enough to warrant leniency. ‘While we accept that Dr Rogers admits his behaviour, it cannot be overlooked that he has, in a sense, been forced into compliance by these proceedings against the background of the previous disciplinary orders,’ the tribunal’s finding read. ‘On our assessment of him during his evidence, we do not consider that he has developed sufficient and sincere insight into his behaviour.’

The ruling cancels Rogers’ medical practitioner registration immediately and bars him from reapplying for his license for a period of 18 months. In explaining the harsh penalty, the panel emphasized it was designed to protect the public and reinforce trust in the Australian medical system. ‘We believe that the public will be properly protected, that their faith in the medical profession can be restored and that a very strong message will be sent to the medical profession, in particular that dishonest conduct towards the health regulators and disregard for orders of a disciplinary tribunal will not be tolerated and will be met with harsh sanctions,’ the ruling stated.

Coastal safety has received a digital upgrade in South Australia, with state authorities launching an updated real-time online shark sighting service designed to keep beachgoers, fishers and water sports enthusiasts informed of potential risks before they enter the ocean.

Managed by the state’s Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA), the revamped platform empowers members of the public to submit firsthand shark sighting reports that are published instantly for the community to access. To maintain data accuracy, PIRSA staff conduct post-submission reviews to filter out duplicate entries and false reports, ensuring the information available to users remains reliable.

In a public statement announcing the update, PIRSA emphasized that the platform’s core improvement is its accessibility: it now makes it far simpler for anyone spending time on or near the coast to stay updated on recent shark activity in their local area. The agency encouraged community participation, noting that prompt reporting from members of the public helps keep all coastal visitors safe. To make reporting even more convenient, QR code stickers linking directly to the reporting page have been placed at dozens of high-traffic coastal locations and selected local tackle shops.

Since the upgraded service went live, multiple confirmed and unconfirmed sightings have already been submitted by both community members and South Australia Police. The most recent entry, filed at 12:30 p.m. on April 10, documented an unidentified shark spotted off the coast of Aldinga by a law enforcement officer. Earlier sightings include a suspected thresher shark seen at Port Moorowie on April 7, and a potential great white shark spotted near Robe on South Australia’s Limestone Coast on April 5.

The launch of this new public safety tool comes just days after a high-profile shark incident that highlighted the need for better real-time information sharing. Over the Easter weekend, 16-year-old surfer Oliver Tokic-Bensley was bitten by a shark at Middleton Beach. Speaking to Australian Broadcasting Corporation News after the attack, Tokic-Bensley said he considered himself extraordinarily fortunate to avoid catastrophic injury. “I felt something sharp, I sort of jumped when it got me and then I kicked my foot away and luckily it didn’t hold onto me,” he recalled, noting he escaped without losing his foot.

A landmark change to Australian health regulation law has pulled back the curtain on more than 100 historical sexual misconduct findings against registered health practitioners across the country, marking a major shift toward greater transparency for patient safety.

Before the new national law reform took effect, public access to professional disciplinary records was heavily restricted. Members of the public could only view active disciplinary sanctions against medical workers, meaning any completed or expired disciplinary action for sexual misconduct was hidden from view, leaving patients unaware of past violations by practitioners they might see for care. Under the updated rules, any proven finding of sexual misconduct against a registered health worker will remain permanently listed on the practitioner’s public record, eliminating the secrecy around historical offenses.

This week, an initial record review completed by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) identified 107 practitioners with past sexual misconduct findings that have now been added to the public searchable register. Breakdowns by region show New South Wales has the highest number of newly disclosed cases at 35. Of the 107 practitioners whose records have been updated, 21 are still actively practicing in Australia, while the remaining 86 hold cancelled or lapsed registrations.

The disclosure of these first 107 cases is only the first step in a broader retrospective review. AHPRA confirmed it is currently processing roughly 5,000 additional historical records to identify and publish other unreported sexual misconduct findings. The new transparency rules apply to every health profession regulated by the agency, covering not just doctors, but also nurses, dentists, psychologists, pharmacists, physiotherapists, and other registered health care workers.

In a statement on the reform, AHPRA Chief Executive Justin Untersteiner emphasized that the new policy puts decision-making power directly in the hands of patients, allowing them to make fully informed choices about their own health care. “Sexual misconduct by registered health practitioners is an unacceptable breach of trust that undermines public health and safety,” Untersteiner said. He noted that the patient-practitioner relationship is uniquely built on trust, as patients often seek care when they are at their most vulnerable. A breach of that trust does not just harm the individual patient, he explained – it causes lasting damage to the entire health care system.

Untersteiner added that sexual misconduct violations leave permanent, deep harm for survivors. To support patients who wish to report concerning behavior by a practitioner, AHPRA has assigned dedicated staff and specific resources to handle concerns, and he encouraged anyone with information to come forward.