Naturopath Wayne Liebelt banned from giving Covid advice, services over anti-vax article in Hills paper

An Adelaide Hills naturopath has been banned from giving Covid advice after his anti-vaxxer views were published in a Hills newspaper.

A Mount Barker naturopath has been suspended after he authorised an anti-Covid vaccination article published in an Adelaide Hills newspaper.

Wayne Liebelt received an interim prohibition order issued by the Health and Community Services Complaints Commissioner (HCSCC) Grant Davies.

The article was published in the Adelaide Hills Herald on June 24.

The HCSCC investigated a complaint received on July 23.

Mr Liebelt’s prohibition order came into effect on July 30 and will last for 12 weeks.

As a result, Mr Liebelt cannot provide health advice and education relevant to Covid-19 vaccinations and he is prohibited from provide vaccination advice or health services.

Assoc Prof Davies said the same community expectations applied to registered health practitioners about Covid vaccines should also apply to unregistered healthcare workers.

“The Code of Conduct exists to ensure unregistered healthcare workers do not pose a risk

to the health or safety of members of the South Australian public,” he said.

“Therefore, I have decided to investigate this matter as I am concerned with what Mr Liebelt has expressed in this article.”

Mr Liebelt is permitted to continue offering other naturopath services during the investigation, as long as he does not breach terms of the prohibition order.