AHPRA Guidelines & Regulations – July 2023
From July 1st, 2023, the Medical Board of Australia’s AHPRA (Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency) division introduced new rules and requirements for patients seeking cosmetic surgery. These updated guidelines and regulations are aimed to enhance patient safety, protection and education towards cosmetic surgery procedures and to raise the standards of care for cosmetic procedures through stricter regulations.
The new requirements for patients seeking cosmetic surgery procedures are as follows:
- All patients seeking cosmetic surgery MUST have a valid referral at the time of consultation
- At least TWO pre-operative consultations are required for all cosmetic surgery procedures (this does not apply to medically required procedures) to proceed with surgery. At least one of these must be in person with Dr. Richardson, the other can be in person or by video call.
- Mandatory cooling-off period – patients will be required to wait at least SEVEN DAYS, following two consultations, before booking surgery.
- All cosmetic surgery patients will be assessed for underlying psychological conditions such as body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), which may make them unsuitable for cosmetic surgery.
For more information regarding these changes, please refer to cosmetic guidelines in the FAQ section on the Medical Board’s website. Alternatively, feel free to reach out to our team for additional information.
Dr Philip Richardson 
Dr Milap Rughani 
