Our mission

Australian Health Professional Development (AHPD) was launched in October 2024, out of a desire to help with unmet education and training needs for health practitioners. 

AHPD's first series of online courses seeks to provide guidance, information and peace of mind for health practitioners looking to meet their professional obligations and minimise their risks of receiving a complaint.

Our history

When AHPD's founder David Gardner worked in his own private practice, he frequently saw that clients were slipping up without realising that they were going wrong. His clients often told him that they had thought they were doing the right thing, and had not realised their actions were a breach of their professional obligations. 

After seeing the devasting effects regulatory complaints were having on practitioners, David decided to start AHPD to help practitioners better understand those obligations before a complaint was ever made.

As a result, AHPD was launched in October 2024. Over time, the project will expand to include broader CPD topics presented by experts in their respective fields.
The People Behind AHPD

Meet our team

David Gardner Solicitor and Director of AHPD

David Gardner

Solicitor, Director of AHPD and former AHPRA investigator
David Gardner has a background in top tier litigation and health regulation, and is a former investigator and manager at AHPRA. He graduated from the University of Adelaide with a Bachelor of Laws, initially practising in commercial litigation, in both boutique and top tier firms.

David then moved across to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). Starting as an investigator, David quickly moved up into management and managed several large teams of investigators, dealing with high risk and complex matters involving health practitioners. After observing the damage caused to practitioners through regulatory processes, David began practising law privately again. In 2019 he opened his own practice - Gardner Legal & Regulatory - to assist practitioners in dealing with complaints.

After more than a decade of seeing the devastating effects that a notification or complaint made to the regulator can have on practitioners, David wanted to find a way he could proactively assist practitioners avoid having a complaint being made in the first place. He identified there was absence of CPD online learning for health practitioners regarding regulatory compliance and that there was a real need for these types of courses to assist practitioners in their day-to-day professional and personal lives.

Knowing he would be contributing to the wellbeing of practitioners and a safer health system, David shifted his focus from private practice and launched his education portal, Australian Health Professional Development in October 2024.

Tania Hall

Client Services and PA to David Gardner
Tania Hall began her professional career in administration for a large Adelaide law firm in the 1980s. Other opportunities presented themselves in the heady days of FM radio, leading to a successful career in media and marketing, with Tania working as marketing manager for a leading retailer for over twenty years.

Her ongoing interest in law saw Tania join Gardner Legal & Regulatory as office manager in 2020, to work alongside colleagues who shared her ethical values of fairness and respect. She was the first person that clients spoke to, many of whom were undergoing some of the most difficult circumstances of their professional and personal life.

Tania takes the knowledge, insights and empathy that she gained at Gardner Legal & Regulatory through to her role with AHPD.
Tania Hall Client Services for Australian Health Professional Development
Claire Sheehan Digital Education for Australian Health Professional Development

Claire Sheehan

User Interface and Digital Education Developer 
Claire Sheehan graduated with a double degree in Industrial Design and Brand Management, but proceeded to put these to use in the widest range of roles possible, from tourism in the French Alps to bespoke manufacturing in South Australia.

She brings over 15 years’ experience in graphic design and website optimisation, and the skillset to simply get projects off the ground, to the launch of AHPD.

Finding simple and elegant solutions is Claire’s focus. The online presence of AHPD was designed to be as user friendly as possible and she continues to oversee the creation of content and coursework to ensure that this standard only improves.