Concussion Clinic Brisbane | Assessment & Clearance

Emergency

Call an ambulance on 000 if any of these are present

Neck pain or tenderness
Double vision
Weakness, tingling or burning in the arms or legs
Severe or increasing headache
Any seizure or convulsion
Loss of consciousness
Deteriorating consciousness — increasingly drowsy or hard to rouse
Repeated vomiting
Increasingly restless, agitated or combative behaviour
Any concern that the person is getting worse rather than better

These need an ambulance or an emergency department now — not a clinic appointment, and not a period of watching to see how things go. This practice does not provide emergency or after-hours care.

Concussion is a clinical diagnosis, not a scan finding, and it is managed by a staged return to thinking and then to sport rather than by rest alone. Australian community sport now requires a medical doctor to clear a player before they return to contact — and the most common problem clubs and families run into is finding one who will do it properly.

These pages set out what the current Australian guidance actually says, in more detail than a summary page usually goes to, with links to every source so you can check it. They are written to be useful to a parent on the boundary line, a player working through a stand-down, and a physiotherapist or club official who needs the rule rather than the gist.

The clinical content follows the ANZ Concussion Guidelines — the Australian and New Zealand clinical practice guideline led by the University of Queensland and accepted as a clinical resource by the RACGP — alongside the AFL community guidelines updated in May 2026 and the Rugby Australia concussion management procedure.

Scope of practice

Dr Hatch is a Fellow of the RACGP — a specialist general practitioner — with extended skills in musculoskeletal, sports and exercise medicine, and holds the Diploma in Musculoskeletal Medicine from the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine (UK). He is not a Sport and Exercise Medicine Physician (FACSEP) and does not hold specialist registration in that field. No emergency or after-hours care is provided. Where a recovery needs a sport and exercise medicine physician, a neurologist or an interdisciplinary concussion service, you will be referred.

The minimum stand-down, by code

The national clinical guideline sets a minimum of 21 days from injury before return to play. The codes have landed in different places, so it is worth knowing the rule that applies to you rather than assuming.

	Adults	Children and adolescents	Who clears the player
ANZ Concussion Guidelines (national clinical guideline)	Minimum 21 days from injury before return to play	Minimum 21 days from injury before return to play	A qualified health care professional monitors and approves each stage; a medical doctor should confirm the diagnosis
AFL — community football	Earliest return is the 21st day after the concussion	Earliest return is the 21st day after the concussion	Only a medical doctor can clear a player for full-contact training or competition
AFL / AFLW — elite	Minimum 12 days	Not applicable	Club medical staff, in an advanced care setting
Rugby Australia	Minimum 12 days for players aged 19 and over	Minimum 21 days for players aged 18 and under	A medical doctor, with the Concussion Referral and Return form completed

A stand-down is a floor, not a target, and reaching it is not a clearance. Meeting the minimum means a player is no longer prohibited from being assessed as ready — the clinical decision is separate from the calendar. How the staged return works →

In this section

Recognising Concussion and What to Do on the Day

Red flags, sideline recognition, and the first 24 hours.

Return to Learn and Return to Sport After Concussion

The staged progression, the 21-day minimum, and what clearance involves.

When Concussion Symptoms Persist

Beyond four weeks — what it means, what else it could be, and what helps.

Repeat Concussion, Retirement and Long-Term Risk

What the evidence supports on CTE, retirement and repeated head impacts — and what it does not.

Concussion for Parents, Coaches and Community Clubs

What to do at the ground, what your club needs in place, and how to support a young athlete.

Nutrition and Supplements After Concussion

Creatine, omega-3, Enzogenol and the rest — appraised honestly, including where the evidence is thin.

What we provide

For players, parents, schools and community clubs across Brisbane. No referral is needed and a Medicare rebate applies to the consultation.

Assessment and diagnosis

Confirming whether this is a concussion, excluding the things that are not, and identifying the contributors — neck, vestibular, visual, sleep, mood — that determine how the recovery will actually go. The national guidelines recommend a medical doctor confirm the diagnosis.

Medical clearance for return to contact

Both the AFL community guidelines and Rugby Australia require a medical doctor to clear a player before full-contact training or competition. No other practitioner can provide it. This is an assessment rather than a signature, and documentation is provided for the club or school.

Supervising the graded return

Running the staged return-to-learn and return-to-sport progression with you, your physiotherapist and your school or workplace — including what to do when a stage fails, which is the point at which most recoveries stall.

Prolonged recovery

Symptoms persisting beyond four weeks warrant a structured reassessment rather than more of the same advice. That means revisiting the diagnosis and treating what is actually maintaining the symptoms, with interdisciplinary referral where it is needed.

Pre-season baseline assessment

Available for clubs and individuals who want it, with an honest account of what it does. A baseline gives an individual comparison point. It does not diagnose concussion, it does not determine return to play, and its value is limited in children and adolescents because of developmental change.

Club policy and education

Advisory work for community clubs on concussion policy, sideline processes, record-keeping and education for coaches, trainers and parents. The most common gap in community sport is having no reliable pathway to a doctor for clearance — that is worth solving before the season, not during it.

Appointments are booked online through HotDoc. Clubs wanting to discuss policy, education or a clearance pathway for the season can get in touch through the contact page.

Common questions

Do I need a referral for a concussion appointment?

No referral is required to book, and a Medicare rebate applies to the consultation because it is billed under GP attendance items. If you have been seen in an emergency department, bring the discharge summary and any imaging report — it makes the appointment considerably more useful.

Can you provide the medical clearance my club needs?

Yes. Both the AFL community guidelines and Rugby Australia require clearance from a medical doctor before return to full-contact training or competition, and Dr Hatch provides that assessment and the documentation your club needs. Clearance follows an assessment of your recovery and your graded loading progression — it is not a formality, and it will not be given early.

How long will I be out?

That depends on your code, your age and your recovery, and no honest figure can be given before assessment. The national guideline sets a minimum of 21 days from injury before return to play, which is also the AFL community rule. Rugby Australia sets 12 days for adults and 21 days for under-18s. Those are minimums before you can be considered ready, not dates on which you return.

Should I go to the emergency department or book here?

If any red flag is present — neck pain, repeated vomiting, seizure, deteriorating consciousness, weakness or tingling in the limbs, severe or worsening headache — call an ambulance or go to an emergency department now. This practice is for assessment after the acute period has been managed safely, for the graded return, and for recoveries that are not going to plan. No emergency or after-hours care is provided here.

Do you see children and adolescents with concussion?

Yes. Junior athletes are held to the longer 21-day minimum in both codes and need school addressed before sport, which is the part most often skipped. Assessment tools differ for children — the Child SCAT6 rather than the adult SCAT6 — and baseline comparisons are less reliable in a growing athlete.

Is Dr Hatch a concussion specialist?

No. Dr Hatch is a specialist general practitioner with extended skills in musculoskeletal, sports and exercise medicine, working to the national guidelines and the code protocols. Where a recovery needs a sport and exercise medicine physician, a neurologist or an interdisciplinary concussion service, you will be told and referred rather than kept here.

Where this information comes from

Everything in this section restates published guidance and links back to it. Nothing here replaces the source documents, and for a club policy or a dispute about a stand-down you should work from the originals.

ANZ Concussion Guidelines ↗
The Australian and New Zealand clinical practice guideline for mild traumatic brain injury and persisting symptoms, led by the University of Queensland and accepted as a clinical resource by the RACGP. Covers sport and non-sport concussion across all ages.
AFL — concussion hub and community guidelines ↗
The Management of Sport-Related Concussion in Australian Football, updated May 2026, plus club, parent and coach resources and the PlayHQ clearance workflow.
Rugby Australia — concussion management ↗
The Blue Card procedure, minimum stand-down periods and the Graduated Return to Play protocol for Australian rugby.
Concussion in Australian Sport ↗
The Australian Government and Australian Institute of Sport portal, with the youth and community sport guidance that most Australian codes have aligned to.

Last reviewed 2026-08-26. Code protocols are revised regularly, usually before the season. This page is general information and is not a substitute for individual medical advice.

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