Cosmetic surgeons are to be monitored by a dedicated enforcement unit for the first time in Australia, as part of an industry-wide crackdown by the national regulator.
But the Australasian Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (Asaps) has criticised the changes, saying they don’t prioritise patient safety and more needs to be done.
The $1 billion industry is undergoing significant reform after an independent review highlighted cases of misconduct.
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) and the Medical Board of Australia have agreed to implement recommended changes to strengthen industry regulation and improve patient safety.
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The inquiry, led by former Queensland Health Ombudsman Andrew Brown, uncovered unsafe practices, misleading advertising and inferior marketing across the cosmetic surgery industry.
The AAPS warned the new proposals would lead to poorer outcomes for patients.
“Ahpra has chosen to protect those who call themselves cosmetic surgeons instead of protecting patients,” said Asaps president Dr Robert Sheen.
“This is reckless and irresponsible. The government needs to step in and strengthen the law so that a practitioner who is cutting into a patient’s body has completed Australian Medical Council accredited surgical training”.
Until now, there have been no universal minimum standards for education, training and qualifications in cosmetic surgery in Australia.
Any medical practitioner can perform invasive cosmetic surgery without the appropriate training or sufficient supervised experience to reach an acceptable level of competence.
“In this environment, consumers are largely left to their own devices when it comes to choosing a practitioner for cosmetic surgery, having to sift through a plethora of advertising and marketing material and trying to make sense of numerous qualifications in order to identify a qualified and competent practitioner,” Brown said.
The Brown review found that there was under-reporting of safety issues by registered practitioners and employers.
