AHPRA cosmetic procedure guidelines: the 2025 advertising and practice rules

AHPRA's cosmetic guidelines are a set of regulatory standards issued by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency and the National Boards that govern how registered health practitioners perform and advertise cosmetic procedures. They sit in two layers: the 2023 guidelines for cosmetic *surgery*, and a newer set of 2025 guidelines for *non-surgical* cosmetic procedures (such as injectables) that commenced on 2 September 2025. Together they regulate advertising, informed consent, prescribing, patient screening and complaint rights.

If you searched for "ahpra cosmetic guidelines", the short answer is: there is no single document. Which obligations apply depends on whether the procedure is surgical or non-surgical, and on the practitioner's registration. The primary sources are published on the AHPRA cosmetic surgery hub and the Medical Board of Australia codes and guidelines. This page is a neutral index; always read the current guideline text before relying on a specific clause.

What the AHPRA cosmetic guidelines cover

The guidelines are professional standards, not standalone legislation. They are issued under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law and are used by the Boards when assessing a practitioner's conduct. Breaching them can support a finding of unprofessional conduct and disciplinary action, even where no separate offence exists.

The framework covers two domains:

• Performing procedures — clinical assessment, consent, facility standards, cooling-off periods and patient screening.
• Advertising procedures — what claims, imagery and incentives are permitted when promoting cosmetic work to the public.

These obligations also interact with the general advertising prohibitions in the National Law and with the Australian Consumer Law, which separately bans misleading or deceptive conduct in trade.

Who must comply

The guidelines apply to registered health practitioners who perform or advertise cosmetic procedures. That includes medical practitioners, nurses, dentists and other registered professions involved in cosmetic work. The advertising obligations extend further: under the National Law, *anyone* who advertises a regulated health service — including clinics, corporate owners and third-party marketers — must not breach the advertising rules.

Two related obligations sit alongside the practice guidelines and are indexed separately on Rules Mate:

• The cosmetic surgery reforms of 2025, covering the surgery-side controls.
• The AHPRA cosmetic advertising rules for 2025, covering promotion of higher-risk non-surgical procedures.

Importantly, employees and clinic owners cannot contract out of these duties. A non-practitioner business that runs the advertising still carries advertising-compliance risk.

Advertising rules under the 2025 guidelines

The 2025 non-surgical guidelines tightened advertising substantially. Based on AHPRA's published guidance, the key advertising controls include:

• No influencer or incentivised testimonials. Using testimonials — including paid influencer content — to advertise cosmetic procedures is prohibited.
• No advertising targeted at under-18s. Promotion of cosmetic procedures must not be directed at minors.
• Adult-content labelling. Advertising of higher-risk non-surgical procedures on social media must be identified as adult content where the platform allows.
• No trivialising or glamorising. Advertising must not minimise the complexity or risks of a procedure, or imply unrealistic outcomes.
• Restrictions on incentives. Inducements such as time-limited discounts that create pressure to commit are heavily constrained.

These build on the long-standing prohibition on using testimonials in health-service advertising. Before publishing any campaign, check the current Guidelines for practitioners who advertise higher-risk non-surgical cosmetic procedures — wording and scope have changed across versions.

Consent, prescribing and screening obligations

On the practice side, the guidelines impose process requirements designed to protect patients. For non-surgical procedures, AHPRA's guidance includes:

• Real-time prescribing. Schedule 4 medicines (for example, prescription injectables) must be prescribed following an in-person or live video consultation. Asynchronous prescribing and batch or standing prescriptions are not permitted — each patient needs an individual prescription.
• Informed consent. A verbal consent discussion plus written information in plain language is required. The information must not understate complexity or overstate likely results.
• Patient suitability and screening. Practitioners must assess suitability, including screening for psychological factors where relevant, and must inform patients of all complaint avenues.
• Complaint rights survive NDAs. Patients must be told they can complain to AHPRA regardless of any non-disclosure agreement.

For cosmetic surgery, the 2023 guidelines set a higher bar that remains in force, including a GP or specialist referral requirement, mandatory screening for body dysmorphic disorder using a validated tool, and cooling-off periods (with longer protections for patients under 18). Verify the exact cooling-off durations against the current guideline, as they differ by procedure type and patient age.

Key dates and how the rules layer

The practical effect is cumulative: surgery obligations did not lapse when the non-surgical rules arrived. A clinic offering both must comply with both sets. Treat 2 September 2025 as the operative date for the non-surgical regime and confirm any later amendments on AHPRA's site.

What practitioners and clinics should do

A defensible compliance position generally involves:

1. Map your services to the correct guideline (surgical vs non-surgical) and identify every registered practitioner involved.
2. Audit all advertising — website, social media, third-party agencies and influencer arrangements — against the current advertising guideline and remove testimonials.
3. Document consent processes, including the verbal discussion and plain-language written materials, and retain records.
4. Fix prescribing workflows so S4 medicines follow a real-time consult with an individual prescription.
5. Embed screening and complaint-disclosure steps into the patient pathway, including the statement that AHPRA complaints survive any NDA.
6. Brief marketing partners in writing — they share advertising liability.

Common compliance pitfalls

• Assuming the rules only bind practitioners. Clinic owners and marketers carry advertising-compliance risk under the National Law.
• Treating influencer content as ordinary marketing. Influencer posts are testimonials and are caught by the prohibition.
• Relying on stale guideline versions. AHPRA has revised these documents more than once; cite the current text, not a blog summary.
• Carrying over old prescribing habits. Batch or asynchronous injectable prescribing is no longer acceptable.
• Overlooking minors. Advertising to under-18s and the enhanced cooling-off protections for younger patients attract close scrutiny.
• Confusing the ACL and the National Law. Both can apply to the same advertisement; meeting one does not satisfy the other.

When in doubt, link straight to the primary guideline on the AHPRA cosmetic surgery hub and confirm dates, durations and scope before acting.