ASAPS calls for Australian businesses promoting overseas cosmetic surgery to face equivalent patient-safety advertising standards, alongside a Federal Government public education campaign on cosmetic tourism
The Australasian Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ASAPS) is calling on the Federal Government to act on two significant patient-safety gaps highlighted by the 60 Minutes investigation into Australians undergoing cosmetic surgery overseas.
ASAPS is calling for:
- A review of the regulation of Australian businesses that advertise, facilitate or sell overseas cosmetic surgery to Australians, with a view to ensuring they are subject to equivalent cosmetic surgery-specific advertising safeguards, regardless of whether the business itself is a registered healthcare provider.
- A Federal Government-funded national public education campaign on the risks of cosmetic surgery tourism, helping Australians understand the protections they may lose when undergoing surgery outside the Australian healthcare system and the
questions they should ask before proceeding.
ASAPS is also encouraging patients who have experienced complications following surgery overseas, and Australian medical practitioners treating those complications, to report them through the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons’ existing Surgical Tourism Complication
reporting system to help build a clearer national picture of the scale and consequences of cosmetic tourism.
Additional information and proof points for media Australian advertising safeguards
Under the National Law, advertising of a regulated health service must not be false, misleading or deceptive, use testimonials about clinical aspects of the service, create unreasonable expectations of beneficial treatment or encourage indiscriminate or unnecessary use of health services.
These general obligations are not limited to doctors. Ahpra states that advertisers can include registered health practitioners, individuals who are not registered practitioners, businesses, partnerships and corporate entities. (AHPRA)
Registered medical practitioners advertising cosmetic surgery are subject to an additional layer of cosmetic surgery-specific requirements designed to address risks particular to this type of healthcare advertising.
ASAPS is asking the government to examine whether Australian companies whose business model involves promoting and facilitating cosmetic surgery performed overseas are being captured by, and held to, an equivalent level of patient-safety protection.
Why testimonials and reviews matter
The National Law prohibits the use of testimonials about the clinical aspects of a regulated health service in advertising. Ahpra explains that this prohibition exists because selectively presented patient experiences may create unrealistic expectations and do not necessarily reflect the outcome another patient will experience. (AHPRA)
Patients remain free to post reviews independently. The regulatory issue arises when testimonials or patient experiences are used as part of advertising.
This is especially relevant to cosmetic tourism, where heavily curated patient stories, beforeand-after content and positive recovery experiences can create an impression of safety that may not show complications, recovery difficulties or longer-term outcomes.
ASAPS’s Australian consumer research found:
- 89.3% of respondents rated a surgeon’s qualifications as somewhat or very important when choosing a surgeon
- 88.2% rated expertise in the desired procedure as somewhat or very important
- yet only 49.1% had checked that their surgeon was qualified and registered as a specialist plastic surgeon
- 73.7% regarded online reviews or ratings as somewhat or very important when choosing a surgeon.
Australian businesses facilitating overseas cosmetic surgery
Medical tourism is not solely promoted to Australians by companies physically located overseas. Australian businesses can act as facilitators between Australian patients and overseas cosmetic surgery providers.
ASAPS is calling for change because the issue is not simply what an overseas surgeon advertises from another jurisdiction, but how healthcare performed overseas is being promoted and sold to patients from within Australia.
Why cosmetic tourism presents additional risks
Previous ASAPS commentary has identified risks including delayed diagnosis and treatment of postoperative complications, lack of long-term follow-up, complications associated with travelling long-haul soon after surgery and difficulty coordinating care across international borders.
Problems can become more difficult to manage when Australian doctors do not have complete information about the original procedure, technique, implants or products used, or when the original surgeon is attempting to manage a complication remotely.
Multiple procedures and patient selection
Appropriate patient selection is a fundamental component of safe cosmetic surgery. Australian specialist plastic surgeons are trained to recognise when a patient is unsuitable for surgery, when underlying health issues require optimisation and when it is in the patient’s interests not to proceed.
Surgical training also includes the ethical judgement required to decline surgery where it is not in the patient’s best interests.
Scale of overseas cosmetic surgery
Previous estimates have suggested around 15,000 Australians travel overseas for cosmetic procedures each year, although we believe the true number may be considerably higher.
ASAPS is encouraging both patients and medical practitioners to use the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons’ Surgical Tourism Complication reporting mechanism.
Building a stronger body of de-identified Australian data would help establish the scale of complications, the types of procedures involved, the countries in which they are occurring and the subsequent demand for treatment within Australia.
