Media release

16 Jul 2014

Mr Bharath Devadas - permanently disqualified from applying for registration as a physiotherapist.

Statement by the Physiotherapy Board of Australia

The South Australian Health Practitioners Tribunal has ordered that physiotherapist Mr Bharath Devadas be permanently disqualified from applying for registration as a physiotherapist in Australia.

The Physiotherapy Board of Australia prosecuted its case against Mr Devadas in the Tribunal, after he was convicted of rape in late 2012. When he was charged in 2011 and pending the tribunal hearing, the SA Board of the Physiotherapy Board of Australia had restricted Mr Devadas’ registration and prevented him from consulting with female patients.

Mr Devadas failed to appear at the tribunal hearing on 11 July 2014, and the tribunal ordered that the matter proceed ex parte.

The Tribunal ordered:

1. The victim’s name be suppressed from publication 
2. The respondent be reprimanded in the strongest terms 
3. The respondent be disqualified from applying for registration as a physiotherapist on a permanent basis 
4. The respondent be prohibited from providing physiotherapy services on a permanent basis 
5. The respondent contribute to the complainant’s costs of and incidental to the within proceedings

The tribunal will hand down formal reasons for decision on 10 October at 10.25am.

For more information

• Lodge an online enquiry form
• For registration enquiries: 1300 419 495 (within Australia) +61 3 8708 9001 (overseas callers) 
• For media enquiries: (03) 8708 9200

Download a PDF of this Media release - Statement by the Physiotherapy Board of Australia - 16 July 2014 (203 KB,PDF)