Section 4 of 5Advertising
Advertising rules for cosmetic procedures
Advertising for cosmetic surgery, and for higher risk non-surgical cosmetic procedures, has its own guidelines in Australia, on top of the general rules for advertising health services and therapeutic goods. Among other things, they bar testimonials and advertising aimed at people under 18, and they require a warning on images that show results.
- Surgery
- Medical Board of Australia guidelines, from 1 July 2023
- Non-surgical
- Ahpra and National Boards guidelines for higher risk procedures
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.
4.1 Scope
Two sets of guidelines
The Medical Board’s guidelines cover every registered medical practitioner who advertises cosmetic surgery, whatever their registration type or endorsement, and they do not cover non-surgical procedures. From 1 July 2023, all cosmetic surgery advertising by doctors had to comply, including websites and social media accounts that already existed.
Ahpra and the National Boards’ guidelines cover anyone who advertises higher risk non-surgical cosmetic procedures performed by registered health practitioners: businesses, medical practitioners, dentists and nurses among them. These are procedures that may involve a prescription-only medicine, a significant change to bodily structures, injections into and under the skin, or chemicals, lights, lasers, heat or cold reaching the deeper layer of the skin. Section 1 explains the line between surgical and non-surgical.
Social media counts. Content on public and private social media profiles or groups may be advertising if it relates to a regulated health service.
4.2 The rules
Advertising rules compared
| Matter | Cosmetic surgery | Higher risk non-surgical |
|---|---|---|
| Testimonials | Must not be used; the National Law bans them | Banned by the National Law |
| Images of under-18s | Must not be used | Must not be used |
| Audiences under 18 | No advertising aimed at under-18s, and none in media likely to appeal to them or with a large under-18 audience | The same rule |
| Outcome images | A prominent warning that the result shown applies only to that patient and may not reflect other patients’ results | The same warning |
| Costs | Where an advert gives costs or insurance cover: clear, easily understood, accurate and honest, with the total cost, including anaesthesia and aftercare, not just the consultation | Where an advert gives costs or insurance cover: clear, easily understood, accurate and honest |
| Registration details | The doctor’s registration number, and whether their registration is general or specialist | Where an advert names a person as performing the procedures, their registration details, including the number |
| Vulnerability | No advertising that exploits people’s vulnerabilities or insecurities to raise demand | The same rule |
4.3 Cosmetic surgery
Rules for surgery advertising
The Medical Board’s guidelines add these, among others:
- No offers of incentives, gifts, discounts or other inducements meant to encourage people into cosmetic surgery.
- No apps, websites, tools or programs that predict how someone will look after surgery.
- In “before and after” images, the first or most prominent image must be the “before” image, or a combined image of both.
- No terms, taglines or hashtags that could mislead about the doctor or raise unrealistic expectations; the Board’s examples include “magic hands”, “sculptor” and “world’s best”.
The full guidelines are linked at the foot of this page.
4.4 Non-surgical procedures
Rules for higher risk non-surgical advertising
Ahpra lists three advertising changes for higher risk procedures:
- real images only, with no airbrushing or editing that misleads the public
- a warning, wherever images are used, that results may vary for other patients
- a stronger ban on testimonials from social media influencers
Ahpra’s practice guidelines for non-surgical procedures also bar practitioners from giving or offering free or discounted procedures, to patients or to social media influencers, to promote cosmetic procedures.
Where the procedure uses a prescription-only medicine, the TGA’s rules apply as well: an advertisement for a cosmetic service must not refer to prescription medicines or substances, even indirectly. Section 3 explains what that means for cosmetic injectables.
4.5 Titles
Titles and claims
In cosmetic surgery advertising, only a doctor who holds specialist registration in a recognised specialty may use that specialist title, and only a doctor who holds an endorsement may say so. In non-surgical advertising, saying a practitioner “specialises” in an area where they hold no specialist registration can mislead and should not be done. The title “surgeon” has its own rule, set out in section 2 on the 2023 cosmetic surgery reforms.
4.6 Responsibility
Responsibility for an advertisement
Ahpra’s guidelines for higher risk non-surgical advertising make anyone who authorises the advertising responsible for it, including the business owner and anyone in control of the advertising. A doctor whose cosmetic surgery is advertised by someone else, such as an employer, is still obliged to make sure the advertising is lawful and appropriate.
4.7 Reporting
Advertising complaints
A complaint about advertising can be made through the complaint form on Ahpra’s website, and Ahpra takes calls on 1300 419 495 for information about making one. If a complaint may interest another regulator, such as the TGA or the ACCC, Ahpra may refer it. The TGA also takes reports of suspected non-compliant advertising of therapeutic goods online.