Set the Victorian peer-opinion words against the recorded dental division
MaintainedLast reviewed
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- Set out the section 59 words against the division in the registration extract, including the unreasonable test and the section 60 warning carve-out. Do not decide the field, and do not decide breach.
- What the lawyer must review
- Decide whether the field is the recorded division.
- Keep a warning allegation under section 60, outside section 59.
- Do not let the tool decide breach.
- Keep health information in a firm-controlled tool, not a public one.
Rules that apply
The document starts from the task name. Change it if this piece of work is different.
The work product
Forum. Victoria. A dental treatment allegation. The peer words are section 59. A warning stays under section 60.
Produce. The recorded division, with the section 59 words set out beside it for the lawyer's field decision.
Have ready. Registration extract showing the division; The allegation, marked as treatment or as a warning; The guideline division names.
Example of the limit. Illustrative example: The register records a dental therapist. The tool sets out section 59 and does not call the field a dentist's field. The lawyer decides the field. A warning row is kept under section 60.
Stop and hand it back when
- The field is being decided by the tool rather than the lawyer.
- A warning row is placed under section 59.
Sources for this task were checked on 2026-10-23.
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Set out the section 59 words against the division in the registration extract, including the unreasonable test and the section 60 warning carve-out. Do not decide the field, and do not decide breach. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Record the division the register shows. The guideline names dentist, dental hygienist, dental prosthetist, dental therapist and oral health therapist.
- Set out section 59: widely accepted in Australia by a significant number of respected practitioners in the field as competent professional practice, at the time the service was provided.
- Record that the court may reject the opinion as unreasonable, and must give written reasons unless a jury determines the matter.
- Keep a warning allegation under section 60. Do not run it through section 59.
- Do not treat the division table as a finding that a treatment was or was not within competence.
Sources
- Dental Board of Australia: Guidelines for scope of practice · 2026-10-23
- Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic) s 59 · 2026-10-23
- Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic) s 60 · 2026-10-23
The guideline says continuing professional development does not move a person from one division to another.
The lawyer decides whether the field in section 59 is the recorded division. The guideline does not decide that.
Health information stays in a firm-controlled tool. Rule 9.1 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules 2015, as described by the Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner, and APP 11, apply. The lawyer decides whether any loss is notifiable under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).