Registration of a Practice Name
Revised December 2004
Declaration
Section 40(3) of the Act states:
"No registered occupational therapist shall carry on the practice of occupational therapy under any name other than his own, unless he has the approval of the Board."
Background
Until more recent years, a significant percentage of the profession have been employed by health care services such as the Health Department of WA, hospitals, disability services and other similar organisations. Occupational therapists employed by these institutions have not been carrying on the practice of occupational therapy, but rather are practising occupational therapy. In these situations, Section 40(3) does not apply and the individual occupational therapist is not required to take any action.
As the profession has developed, an increasing number of occupational therapists are carrying on the practice of occupational therapy in private practice. Many of these occupational therapists are trading under business names, i.e.: a name other than the name that appears on the register.
Where an occupational therapist practices under his/her own name, Section 40(3) does not apply and the individual occupational therapist is not required to take any action.
However, where an occupational therapist practices under some other name, then he/she is required to have Board approval pursuant to Section 40(3) and the following policy will be applied by the Board.
Policy
An occupational therapist practice name must:
| 1. | Include the word "occupational therapy", |
| 2. | Not be misleading or deceptive or likely to mislead or deceive, |
| 3. | Not be vulgar or sensational such as would be likely to adversely affect the standing of the occupational therapy profession, |
| 4. | Not be linked to a product, and |
| 5. | Not make the occupational therapist appear to have occupational therapy qualifications they do not hold. |
Applications for Board Approval
The Board will require the following documents to support each application for Board approval of a practice name:
| (a). | The original Business Name
Extract (or certified copy thereof), setting out full details of
ownership of the business name, available from the Department of
Consumer and Employment Protection. |
| (b). | Where the business name is owned by a company, in addition to (a) above, the Board will also require a statutory declaration from one of the directors giving full details of the directors, shareholders and stating that the company has granted its approval for the nominated occupational therapist to use that name. |
Summary of Scenarios
The following are the typical scenarios that will occur. The fictitious name "Mary Stewart" has been used, "Mary Stewart" is a registered occupational therapist and this is the name that appears on the Register.
| 1. | "Mary Stewart – Occupational
Therapist". No action is required to be taken by Mary. |
| 2. | "West Perth Occupational Therapy
Services". Mary will need to obtain Board approval. |
| 3. | "ABC Services Pty Ltd", being a
company which employs Mary Stewart as an occupational therapist
to provide occupational therapy services and the company charges
a fee for Mary's services. The Board will not approve this
name. |
| 4. | ABC Services Pty Ltd trading as
"ABC Occupational Therapy Services" where Mary is employed to
provide occupational therapy services and the company charges a
fee for Mary's services. Mary will require Board approval to
practice under the trading name. |
| 5. | "XYZ Pty Ltd" employs Mary to assist in the delivery of occupational therapy services, where those services are not on a fee for service basis. No action is required to be taken by Mary. |
Recommendation
The Board recommends that prior to registering a business name at the
Department of Consumer and Employment Protection, occupational
therapists who wish to use a practice name should contact the Registrar,
who will be able to provide the appropriate guidance.
