Independent review of the regulation of medical practitioners who perform cosmetic surgery

Final report - Independent review of the regulation of medical practitioners who perform cosmetic surgery

The final report from the Independent review of the regulation of medical practitioners who perform cosmetic surgery was published on 1 September 2022.

The report, which follows a six month examination of the regulation of the sector including through a public consultation, makes 16 recommendations to improve patient safety in the sector.

Ahpra and the Medical Board have accepted all 16 recommendations.

• Summary (156 KB,PDF)
• Full report – Independent review of the regulation of medical practitioners who perform cosmetic surgery (1.36 MB,PDF)
• FAQs

Background

In November 2021, the Medical Board and Ahpra commissioned an external review of patient safety issues in the cosmetic surgery industry, including how to strengthen regulation of practitioners in the industry.

The independent review was led by Mr Andrew Brown, former Queensland Health Ombudsman, who has 30 years’ experience primarily in legal services, regulatory oversight and complaints management, and an expert panel:

• Conjoint Professor Anne Duggan, Chief Medical Officer, Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
• Mr Alan Kirkland, CEO, CHOICE and
• Ms Richelle McCausland, National Health Practitioner Ombudsman.

A public consultation from 4 March - 14 April 2022 generated 595 public survey responses and 249 submissions, published at the link below.

You can read more about the public consultation, including the submissions received, on our Past Consultation page.

Please note: The review and consultation were titled Independent review of the regulation of health practitioners in cosmetic surgery. However, the report is named Independent review of the regulation of medical practitioners who perform cosmetic surgery to better reflect the scope of the review and its recommendations.