16 March, 2026 – Published InSight+ 

The cosmetic surgery industry in Australia has undergone significant regulatory reform in recent years in direct response to horrifying media reports of appalling patient stories and devastating outcomes. Plastic surgeons have been advocating for various reforms to the industry for many years, informed by our own experiences of seeing patients who had been harmed by those with inadequate surgical training and experience.

An independent review into the sector, published in August 2022, outlined several recommendations to improve patient safety, tighten guidance for practitioners and their advertising, and strengthen the processes for reporting and managing complaints. The Clinical Guidelines (and Advertising Guidelines) for medical practitioners who perform cosmetic surgery came into effect mid-2023 and mandated several changes in practice, including the requirement for a referral from a general practitioner, pre-operative assessment for psychological conditions, and specific cooling-off periods before surgery could be booked. These still placed the onus of compliance on practitioners and so had little effect on rogue practitioners within the industry.

The pitfalls of the cosmetic industry

Unlike the traditional medical model, whereby patients are referred by their general practitioner to see an appropriate specialist for their particular concern, the cosmetic industry functions more like a commercial marketplace. Patients are often attracted to practitioners through their pricing and advertising (now much more online and on social media, rather than traditional methods) and commonly lack the nuanced understanding of the meaning of specific experience, training and titles.

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