AVN (Australia)

Will the AVN be silenced?

Today, the AVN received a copy of a complaint which has been lodged with the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC)
by an individual who has previously expressed directly to the AVN their disagreement with our views.

The  complaint alleges that both the AVN and myself, Meryl Dorey, are "health service providers" because we are "providing health education services to the public" for the purposes of the Health Care Complaints Act 1993 (NSW)

The complainant asks that:

The HCCC issue a Prohibition Order to silence both myself and the AVN and prevent us from publishing information about vaccination or related health issues. It claims that we do not have the right to free speech under the Constitution of Australia and asks that the HCCC issue a public statement that the AVN poses a risk to public health and safety.

At the present time, the AVN is seeking legal advice and will be providing the HCCC with our written response to the complaint before the end of August 2009. Neither the AVN nor Meryl Dorey are "health practitioners" as the term is generally understood colloquially nor have we ever claimed to be.
We do not dispense either treatment or advice, we just try to disseminate information about health issues and to inject some balance into the debate so that people can make informed choices that best suit their particular needs.

It is important that in the present climate where the spectre of  compulsory vaccination is a real threat, we do our best to protect the rights we have and prevent those who would restrict or take them away completely from doing so. This complaint is a symptom of those efforts and I do not believe that it is coincidental that it has occurred at the present time.

I will of course keep you informed of any future developments in this Regards,

Meryl