Australia’s Largest Christian News Site

Dr Jereth Kok has been suspended from practising medicine for over two years for voicing Christian and conservative viewpoints on social media. In this exclusive story, see the ‘evidence’ that AHPRA may use to argue for Dr Kok’s permanent de-registration later this year.

Dr Jereth Kok, a Melbourne-based family GP, was indefinitely suspended in August 2019 for expressing sincerely-held Christian beliefs deemed ‘wrongthink’ by the Medical Board of Australia. Barred from seeing his patients for almost two and a half years, Dr Kok’s exile began after an anonymous complaint about his use of social media.

The Daily Declaration can now reveal screenshots of Dr Kok’s latest ‘crimes’ compiled by AHPRA. A collection of new posts (some of which appear below) will form part of the agency’s case against him later this year when they could argue for a permanent ban to end his 15-year medical career.

All bar one of the Facebook posts that have been added to Dr Kok’s rap sheet had specifically been shared by him in a non-public visibility mode, meaning that only a limited audience could view them on the platform.

‘An Excellent Doctor’ With a Clear Record

Addressing topics such as abortion, transgender ideology and Victoria’s ‘conversion therapy’ ban, Dr Kok’s recent thoughtcrimes were posted to social media after his suspension. It therefore appears likely that AHPRA will seek to indict Dr Kok for views he expressed while no longer serving the community as a doctor.

The Daily Declaration can confirm that Dr Kok has not paid any registration fees or been issued with any registration documents in the period during which he shared the new posts in question.

John Steenhof, who will be defending Dr Kok, told the Daily Declaration that “the impact of AHPRA’s investigation on Jereth and his family, including the loss of livelihood, has been profound.” Steenhof also clarified that there is nothing else against Dr Kok’s name to disqualify him from practice:

There has never been a complaint against Jereth about his patient care. By all accounts, Jereth was and would continue to be an excellent doctor. The medical profession is poorer for his absence, particularly at a time when there is a critical shortage of practicing doctors in Victoria.

What are Australian Doctors Allowed to Believe?

It is chilling to note that several of Dr Kok’s ‘incriminating’ posts merely defended classical liberal values and sincerely held Christian beliefs against the authoritarian creep of Western governments in the Covid era. One was by prominent American podcast host and commentator Allie Beth Stuckey, whose original post read:

A trend I see is professing Christians decrying the insistence upon rights before “loving your neighbour.” Take a look at any dictator-ruled country. Take a gander at the 20th century. Skim the Gulag Archipelago. And see what it looks like when people no longer insist upon rights.

Several of Dr Kok’s unapproved posts addressed the issue of conscience and medical freedom in the face of compulsory Covid-19 vaccines.

“Any time we make a decision which is clouded by great unease or doubts as to the rightness and goodness of the decision, we are acting without faith and in opposition to conscience,” he captioned one article. “No believer in Jesus Christ must ever be coerced or compelled to act without faith, and therefore sin.”

When Standing for Freedom Became Controversial

In their case against Dr Kok’s right to continue practicing medicine, AHPRA will also cite his support for an article that defended the Ezekiel Declaration which argued against medical segregation in churches.

In another post on AHPRA’s blacklist, Dr Kok shared a Daily Declaration article penned by this writer. There, I argued that the ‘my body, my choice’ slogan is misapplied when used to defend abortion but is logically coherent in calling for coercion-free vaccination.

Several of the articles Dr Kok shared were from the satirical Christian news site The Babylon Bee, and were clearly intended to be humorous.

One of his posts was a link to an Australian Christian Lobby petition against Victoria’s conversion therapy law. Another was authored by theologian John Piper. The list also included articles from the Spectator Australia, the Gospel Coalition Australia, and Public Discourse.

Another Victim of the Woke Crusade

Dr Jereth Kok’s case is now an iconic Australian story in the woke crusade against Christians in medicine. In describing this crusade, John Steenhof explains that “doctors and other health professionals are increasingly being forced to align with a cultural-left agenda through creeping limits imposed by Codes of Conduct.” He warns that the Medical Board of Australia is increasingly held captive to critical theory and leftist groupthink.

Addressing Dr Jereth Kok’s case in particular, Steenhof notes:

This will be a ground-breaking case which will determine the parameters around what doctors of faith, completely outside any doctor-patient relationship or clinical setting, can and cannot vocalise about their personally held Christian and political beliefs on contemporary issues.

We are helping Jereth to defend against the further curtailing of freedom of religion and speech in this country that everyone, including doctors, should be free to enjoy.

Having had his usual means of earning an income taken away, Jereth is relying on crowdfunding to cover the costs of his legal defence. If you would like to contribute to his legal fund, please donate to Dr Jereth Kok’s Give Send Go appeal.

A collection of Dr Kok’s most recent Facebook posts — shared in non-public mode and while he was not practising medicine — appear below.