The media’s favourite ‘outback nurse’ guilty of harassing rival and false declaration

The cosmetic nurse spotlighted in the Australian media to talk about crime in Alice Springs, despite living in Darwin, has admitted that she created social media accounts to leave false, negative reviews and filed a fake COVID-19 declaration about a work rival.

Rachel Louise Hale pleaded guilty in Darwin Local Court on Thursday to using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence and for making a false declaration. 

Hale did not respond to a request for comment.

The charges related to a campaign run by the 45-year-old mother against the 26-year-old victim who started up a competing cosmetic practice after the pair worked together, the NT News reported.

In January 2022, Hale filed a statutory declaration pretending to be her rival, stating she had been infected with COVID-19. This meant that the victim’s business was supposed to shut down while she went into isolation.

The court also heard that police discovered Hale had saved 77 pages of screenshots of fake profiles, reviews and messages smearing her rival’s business.

Despite living in Darwin and working as a full-time cosmetic nurse, Hale became a fixture in the Australian media which was looking to speak to someone about Alice Springs’ crime crisis.

“Rachel told her horror stories of child abuse to Peta Credlin on Sky News, Karl Stefanovic on Today, Daily Mail Australia, Nine’s Darwin reporter Georgie Dickerson and 2GB’s Ben Fordham, among others,” wrote Guardian Australia’s Amanda Meade. 

Hale was introduced as being “on the frontline in Aboriginal communities” by Credlin and having spent “14 years of nursing in communities near both Alice Springs and Darwin” by Daily Mail Australia. 

The cosmetic nurse defended herself as being misrepresented by others.

“I never said I worked in Alice,” she told news.com.au. “[The abuse] is the same everywhere.”