Dr Hon Young – Disqualification for Professional Misconduct

06 Jan 2020

The Health Care Complaints Commission prosecuted a complaint against a formerly registered general practitioner, Dr Hon Young, before the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (“the Tribunal”).  The complaint related to allegations that Dr Young engaged in unsatisfactory professional conduct and professional misconduct in that he:

• touched Patient A’s genital area without clinical indication and masturbated Patient A on at least four occasions between 1987 and 1990;
• failed to observe proper professional boundaries in that he wrote letters to Patient A and Patient A’s current treating general practitioner in February 2018;
• breached a condition imposed on his registration on numerous occasions which prohibited him from “consulting with, examining, treating or performing any procedure on any patient under the age of 18 years”.

On 20 December 2019 the Tribunal found all of the complaint proven, including that the conduct amounted to unsatisfactory professional conduct and professional misconduct.  The Tribunal agreed with the conclusion of the Commission’s expert that the practitioner had exploited his position of power with a vulnerable patient by inappropriate intimacy. The Tribunal also expressed concern with the breach of condition, absent any reasonable explanation.

The Tribunal made the following orders:

• If Dr Young were still registered, the Tribunal would have suspended or cancelled the practitioner’s registration and the National Board is to record the fact that the Tribunal would have suspended or cancelled the practitioner’s registration in the National Register;
• Dr Young is disqualified from being registered as a medical practitioner, with a non-review period of six years;
• Dr Young is prohibited from providing a “health service” as defined in s4 of the Health Care Complaints Act 1993, unless and until he is registered as a health practitioner. 

The decision is available at NSW Caselaw.  

Further Information

The full decisions are available at the

For further information, contact the Executive Officer of the Health Care Complaints Commission, on 9219 7444 or send an email to media@hccc.nsw.gov.au.

The information in this media release is correct at the time of publication. Orders may change; for example, conditions may no longer apply. For current information regarding the status of a registered health practitioner, including any conditions that currently apply, please check the National Register at www.ahpra.gov.au.