Dr Jacquelyn Elkington’s case came before the Social Workers Complaints and Disciplinary Tribunal yesterday — but she did not.
The woman, who is listed on the University of Otago’s website as a senior lecturer hauora Māori, failed to show up for the hearing and was promptly found guilty of professional misconduct after tribunal chairman Winston McCarthy found her behaviour was likely to bring discredit to the profession.
It was the first time a social worker has been taken to task over a Covid-19 issue and co-counsel for the professional conduct committee (PCC) Becca Boles said the only appropriate penalty was deregistration.
But the tribunal opted to suspend Dr Elkington for 12 months, censuring her and ordering her to pay costs of more than $13,000.
In November 2021, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government introduced legislation narrowing the grounds for a vaccine exemption.
Only a suitably qualified health practitioner could make the assessment and it had to be verified by the country’s director-general of health.
A month later, Dr Elkington — who was working in Auckland at the time — issued such an exemption for a "vulnerable" client.
"She’s not a medical practitioner, she’s a social worker," PCC co-counsel Elena Mok said.
"Her conduct took her outside the scope of her practice."
A day later, the man used the exemption in a bid to gain entry to a recreational facility.
A staff member subsequently raised suspicions and referred the matter to the health and disability commissioner (HDC).
Ms Mok said Dr Elkington’s conduct "snowballed" from that point, Dr Elkington thwarting the resulting investigations against her by repeatedly failing to provide information.
In June 2022, the woman made an online application to renew her practising certificate with the Social Workers Registration Board.
Dr Elkington falsely indicated she was not subject to any inquiry and when she was pulled up on her lie, she claimed she thought the HDC inquiry had closed.
But a couple of months later she resubmitted the online application, again declaring she was free of any scrutiny.
Dr Elkington’s behaviour was "at least misleading, if not outright false", Ms Mok said.
The social worker went on to claim she felt "harassed and threatened" by the probe into her conduct, and that it was "borderline bullying".
Many requests for information — about client notes or records on how many vaccine exemptions she had issued — throughout 2024, after the file was passed on to the PCC, were met with
silence.
At other points, Dr Elkington said she could not provide the documentation as she did not have the consent of her clients.
She occasionally claimed to have already submitted the requested information and also made references to the Bill of Rights Act and various international treaties.
On one occasion Dr Elkington referred to the River of Lies documentary — which bills itself as revealing the truth behind the "New Zealand scamdemic" — produced by the controversial Billy Te Kahika.
Her lack of engagement in the process showed a disrespect for the process and an ongoing lack of remorse and insight, reinforced by her non-attendance at yesterday’s hearing, the PCC argued.
"The vaccine exemption appears to have been issued because of Dr Elkington’s personal beliefs about the safety of the vaccine and her views on the Covid pandemic," Ms Mok said.
"Dr Elkington’s attempt to justify her approach is an example of her effectively allowing these personal beliefs to influence her social work practice unduly."
The University of Otago refused to answer questions about the woman’s employment at the institution.
In 2022, Dr Elkington ran for the Whakatāne mayoralty and posted online at the time her various theories, which included that the Covid-19 vaccination caused monkeypox.
She came sixth out of seven candidates.
Dr Elkington did not respond to requests for comment.
The tribunal ordered that if the social worker returned to practice she must undertake monthly supervision for a year.
