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Patient informationFive sections

Body sculpting, read from the consent form

This guide, published by Dotto, sets out the rules Australia’s health regulators have written for cosmetic procedures: what counts as cosmetic surgery, the referral and cooling-off period before it, the medicines in cosmetic injections, what an advertisement may show, and where to turn if something goes wrong. Every rule on these pages comes from an official source listed at the foot of the page.

General information, not medical advice. Call Triple Zero (000) in an emergency, or go to the emergency department of your nearest hospital. To check that a practitioner is registered, search Ahpra’s register of practitioners.

A drawn consent form with five numbered lines, two tick boxes and a signature line 12345
A blank form, drawn for this guide. Each numbered line is one of the five sections below.

A Risk

Risk and cost

Ahpra, the national agency whose role is to make sure only suitably trained and qualified health practitioners are registered, is plain about cosmetic work: however simple a procedure or surgery may seem, every one carries risk, and the decision deserves careful thought every time, even for something you have had before.

healthdirect describes cosmetic surgery as surgery done for a non-medical reason, to reshape or change the look of an otherwise healthy part of the body. It is not usually covered by Medicare or private health funds, and healthdirect suggests always asking for a quote for the costs.

B Two kinds of procedure

Surgical and non-surgical procedures

“Body sculpting” is an everyday phrase. The regulators sort cosmetic work by a plainer test. In the Medical Board of Australia’s guidelines, cosmetic surgery involves cutting beneath the skin, with examples running from breast augmentation, rhinoplasty and abdominoplasty to blepharoplasty, surgical face lifts and cosmetic genital surgery, and liposuction and fat transfer on the same list. Non-surgical cosmetic procedures do not cut beneath the skin, though they may pierce it.

Which set of guidelines the practitioner works to depends on the procedure and on who does it. Doctors work to the Medical Board’s guidelines for both kinds, and other registered practitioners doing non-surgical procedures work to Ahpra and the National Boards’ guidelines. Section 1 sets the two side by side.

C Cosmetic surgery

Steps before cosmetic surgery

Since 1 July 2023, every medical practitioner providing cosmetic surgery has had to follow the Medical Board’s revised guidelines. They set out these steps before the operation:

  1. Referral

    Anyone considering cosmetic surgery must first get a referral, preferably from their usual GP, or from another GP or specialist if that is not possible.

  2. Two consultations

    At least two consultations before the operation, and at least one of them in person with the doctor who will operate.

  3. Consent

    Taken by the doctor who will operate, at a consultation held at least seven days before the day of surgery, confirmed again on the day, with a copy of the signed form for the patient.

  4. Cooling-off period

    At least seven days after the two consultations and the signed consent before the surgery can be booked or a deposit paid.

  5. Patients under 18

    An independent evaluation by a psychologist, psychiatrist or general practitioner before any cosmetic surgery, and at least three months between giving informed consent and the surgery.

Section 2 sets out the main rules for each step, with what the doctor must check along the way.

D Contents

Five sections

  1. Surgical and non-surgical procedures

    What makes a procedure cosmetic, what sits outside the definition, and where the work may happen.

  2. The 2023 cosmetic surgery reforms

    Referral, assessment, consent and cooling-off, and the separate rule on the title “surgeon”.

  3. Injectables and the law

    Prescription-only medicines, who may prescribe and give them, and how to check what is used.

  4. Advertising rules for cosmetic procedures

    Testimonials, images, under-18s, costs and titles in cosmetic advertising.

  5. If something goes wrong

    Emergency care, Ahpra’s Cosmetic Surgery Hotline, and the complaints body for each state.

E The practitioner

The practitioner’s registration

Ahpra keeps the register of practitioners: a practitioner whose name appears on it is allowed to practise. Search the register on Ahpra’s site.

One title deserves a careful read. Among medical practitioners, only those with specialist registration in one of three fields (surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, or ophthalmology) may call themselves “surgeon”. The Medical Board and Ahpra say this is expected to take effect in New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia once those states complete their own legislative processes: section 2.5 has the detail.

F Regulators

Rule makers

The Medical Board of Australia writes the guidelines for doctors who perform cosmetic surgery and procedures, and for those who advertise cosmetic surgery. Ahpra and the National Boards have published guidelines for practitioners who perform non-surgical cosmetic procedures and for those who advertise the higher risk ones. The TGA regulates therapeutic goods such as medicines and medical devices. How the medicines used in cosmetic injections are supplied, stored, prescribed and given is regulated by state and territory health departments.

The places where surgery happens are a state matter too: in Victoria all surgery must be done in a facility registered with the Department of Health, and in New South Wales certain cosmetic procedures may only be carried out in a public hospital or a licensed private health facility.