NURSE BANNED AFTER SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH DETAINEE

Content warning: sexual misconduct involving a patient.

A former mental health nurse has been prohibited from providing any health service for four years and six months after a WA tribunal found he engaged in a sexual relationship with a patient and misled the regulator investigating his conduct.

Philip Robert Daplyn, identified in reporting as a former University of Notre Dame lecturer, was the subject of disciplinary proceedings brought by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.

THE ALLEGATIONS

The West Australian reported on 23 September that the patient was a woman in immigration detention. Its reporting described Daplyn having sex with her, bringing a mobile phone into the detention facility for her and giving her gifts and personal items.

THE TRIBUNAL'S FINDINGS

The State Administrative Tribunal’s orders, made on 10 September 2026 and published on 14 September, establish two findings of professional misconduct.

Daplyn crossed professional boundaries and entered a personal and sexual relationship with the woman, referred to as Patient A, between 2017 and 2023.

He also provided false and misleading information to the board during its investigations in 2023 and 2025.

The proceedings were resolved following mediation. The tribunal recorded that Daplyn did not dispute the board’s factual account for the purposes of those proceedings only.

THE PENALTY

The tribunal formally reprimanded him and disqualified him from applying for registration as a health practitioner. He cannot apply to the tribunal for a reinstatement order for four years and six months from the date of the orders.

Separately, he is prohibited from providing any health service for the same period.

He was also ordered to pay $3,500 towards the board’s legal costs. That amount is a costs contribution, not a criminal fine.

The decision is a professional disciplinary outcome. It does not constitute a criminal conviction, and the expiry of the minimum period for seeking reinstatement does not itself restore his registration.

The patient’s identity is not being published.