Two Ahpra guideline documents were issued on 2 September 2025, and they answer different questions. The performing guideline sets expectations for registered practitioners who provide non surgical cosmetic procedures; for medical practitioners, separate Medical Board guidance applies. The advertising guideline covers advertising of higher risk procedures and can make more than one person or business accountable. Neither document expands a practitioner’s scope. For a patient, the useful test is documentary: identify the assessor, prescriber where relevant, performer and follow up contact; ask for verbal and written consent information; keep the financial consent, image consent if any, written aftercare and complaint pathway.
Start With The Correct Document
| Question | Primary Ahpra document | Who it addresses |
|---|---|---|
| How should a non surgical cosmetic procedure be assessed, consented, provided and followed up? | Guidelines for registered health practitioners who perform non surgical cosmetic procedures | Registered practitioners covered by the guideline; medical practitioners use separate Medical Board guidance |
| How may a higher risk cosmetic procedure be advertised? | Guidelines for advertising higher risk non surgical cosmetic procedures | Practitioners, business owners and others who authorise or control the advertising |
| How may therapeutic goods be advertised to the public? | TGA advertising law and guidance | Advertisers of health services involving therapeutic goods |
The rules overlap, but they are not substitutes. A restrained advertisement does not prove competent care. A registered practitioner does not make every public product claim permissible.
What The 2025 Performing Guideline Does Not Do
The Ahpra document says it does not, by itself, authorise a practitioner to perform these procedures and does not expand any profession’s scope. Registration is the first identity check, not a licence for every cosmetic service.
Scope still depends on profession, education, competence, authorisations, state or territory law, workplace arrangements and relevant National Board material. The guideline also distinguishes medical practitioners, who are directed to the Medical Board’s separate cosmetic surgery and procedure guidance.
Turn A Clinic Claim Into Four Names
Ask the clinic to identify the people responsible for each part of the pathway. In a simple arrangement one person may hold more than one role, but the roles should not disappear:
- Assessor: who considers history, motivations, psychological, social and cultural factors, expectations and suitability?
- Prescriber, where relevant: who conducts the required consultation and remains responsible for the person receiving the prescription?
- Performer: who carries out the procedure and manages care during and after it?
- Follow-up or backup practitioner: who is available if the performer or prescriber cannot personally respond?
A clinic logo cannot answer these questions. Names, professions, registration details and contact arrangements can.
What Changed About Remote Prescribing?
For cosmetic care involving a prescription only medicine, the authorised prescriber must have an in person or video consultation each time they prescribe. The guideline says prescribing by text, email or an online form alone is not acceptable practice. It also rejects one prescription for multiple people.
This does not mean every video call leads to a prescription, or that the prescribing consultation replaces the broader suitability assessment. Ask who conducted the consultation, when it occurred and how the prescriber remains involved if the performer is a different practitioner.
What Should A Suitability Assessment Cover?
The performing guideline expects an evidence based and holistic assessment. It includes the person’s history, relevant psychological, social and cultural factors, reasons for seeking the procedure, external pressure, expectations and conditions that may make the procedure inappropriate.
The discussion should include alternatives and the option of not having a procedure. Where a significant condition or psychological issue may make somebody unsuitable, the guidance describes referral to an appropriate practitioner who is independent of the intended performer or prescriber before proceeding. Assessment should decide whether care belongs in the conversation at all; it is not an automatic approval form.
Consent Now Has Several Separate Records
| Record | What it should establish | What the person should receive |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical consent | Verbal discussion plus plain language written information about the procedure, material risks, benefits, alternatives and personal factors | A copy of the signed consent |
| Financial consent | Total cost, deposits, payment dates, maintenance costs, follow up charges and possible further costs | A copy of the documented financial consent |
| Image consent, if photographs or video are taken | Purpose, use, storage, access and whether advertising use is proposed | A separate signed record and a genuine choice to refuse advertising use |
| Advertising image consent, if relevant | Where and for how long an image may appear, reuse by another party and the withdrawal process | An opportunity to view the image before agreeing |
Agreement to care is not automatic agreement to marketing. The guidance separates advertising image consent from consent to the procedure.
What Should Be Written Down After Care?
The guideline lists practical aftercare details: contacts for the prescriber, performer and care coordinator; a backup contact; what was done; the usual range of symptoms; escalation points for unusual pain or symptoms; medicine, activity and self care instructions; and follow up details where applicable.
It also expects the health record to describe the care in enough detail for another registered practitioner to take over with an adequate understanding. A useful patient question is: “If you were unavailable tomorrow, what written information would the next practitioner receive?”
Complaints Are Part Of The Pre-Care Information
Before a procedure, the guideline expects information about complaint options. These include raising the issue with the practitioner, using the clinic process, contacting the relevant state or territory health complaints body, and contacting Ahpra or the applicable co-regulatory body.
A non-disclosure agreement cannot remove the ability to make a regulatory complaint. You do not need to wait for a dispute before asking where the clinic’s complaint process is documented.
The Advertising Guideline Reaches Beyond The Website
Ahpra describes advertising broadly. It can include websites, social media, private groups, comments, signs, business cards, public documents, directories and other communications that promote a provider or service. Responsibility may rest with the owner, the person controlling the advertising and the practitioner whose services are promoted.
That matters when a clinic blames an agency, influencer or platform. Outsourcing production does not make the content ownerless. A practitioner who becomes aware of non-compliant advertising is expected to take reasonably practicable steps to have it corrected.
Five Advertising Checks A Patient Can Perform
- Identity: if an individual practitioner is named as providing higher risk procedures, are profession and registration details clear?
- Overall impression: are risks, recovery and individual variation visible, or buried beneath transformation language?
- Positive clinical endorsements: does the provider publish, link to, reshare or interact with favourable statements about clinical care?
- Images: do photographs create a false procedure result, use filters, idealise the service or turn the procedure into entertainment?
- Vulnerability: does the advertising target people under 18, exploit body image pressure or promise unsupported social or psychological benefit?
No single keyword proves compliance. The regulator looks at the overall impression and the responsibilities behind it.
Ahpra And TGA Still Have Different Jobs
Ahpra and the National Boards regulate registered practitioners and advertising of regulated health services under the National Law. The TGA regulates therapeutic goods and the advertising of those goods. Australian Consumer Law may also apply to misleading or deceptive conduct.
More than one obligation can apply to the same clinic communication. Product neutral wording is important in public advertising, but it does not replace private informed consent about what is proposed for an individual after assessment.
Build A Patient Evidence Pack
Before deciding, keep one folder containing:
- a screenshot or note of each practitioner’s registration check
- the clinic’s written information and your signed clinical consent
- the financial consent and deposit terms
- any separate image consent and the stated withdrawal process
- the written aftercare contacts, escalation points and follow-up plan
- the procedure record supplied to you, where care proceeds
- the complaint pathway
This pack does not prove that a decision is right for you. It makes accountability legible and gives another practitioner more useful information if care must be transferred.
How Core Aesthetics Applies This Publicly
Core Aesthetics is at 12A Atherton Road, Oakleigh VIC 3166. The clinic identifies Corey Anderson as a Registered Nurse and publishes Ahpra registration NMW0001047575 for independent checking. Public pages avoid naming or promoting prescription medicines and keep assessment, risks, alternatives, consent, waiting and no care visible.
That is an implementation statement, not a regulator endorsement. Use the verification page, read how informed consent works, use the patient safety guide and compare the current official Ahpra and TGA documents yourself.
Is this for you?
Consider booking a consultation if
- Adults who want to understand the September 2025 Ahpra documents before choosing a clinic
- People comparing practitioner, consent, aftercare and advertising accountability
- Patients who want a practical list of records to keep
- Readers willing to verify current regulator wording directly
This may not be for you if
- Businesses seeking legal or regulatory advice about their own advertising
- Anyone treating a website summary as proof of personal suitability
- People seeking public product or prescription medicine recommendations
- Anyone needing urgent medical care after a previous procedure
Suitability is confirmed at consultation. This list is general guidance, not a substitute for clinical assessment.
Frequently asked questions
When were the Ahpra non surgical cosmetic guidelines issued?
The performing guideline and the higher risk advertising guideline both state a date of issue of 2 September 2025. Ahpra says they will be checked from time to time, so current regulator pages should be read.
Do the guidelines expand a nurse’s scope of practice?
No. The performing guideline expressly says it does not authorise procedures or expand any profession’s scope. Scope still depends on registration, education, competence, authorisations, law and relevant National Board requirements.
Do the performing guidelines apply to medical practitioners?
The Ahpra performing guideline applies to registered practitioners under the National Law except medical practitioners. Medical practitioners are directed to the Medical Board of Australia’s separate guidelines for cosmetic surgery and procedures.
Can a prescription consultation occur only by text or an online form?
No. Where the relevant cosmetic care requires a prescription, the authorised prescriber must have an in person or video consultation each time. The guideline says prescribing by text, email or online alone is not acceptable.
Is consent to treatment also consent to advertising photographs?
No. The guidance separates consent to the procedure from consent to use images in advertising. The person must be told the proposed use and storage, may refuse advertising use and may withdraw that consent.
Who remains responsible when the prescriber and performer are different?
The authorised prescriber remains responsible for management of the person receiving the prescription, while the practitioner performing the procedure has responsibilities for the administration and post-care communication. Formal backup arrangements must also be clear.
What written information should follow a procedure?
The guideline lists practitioner and backup contacts, procedure details, usual symptoms, escalation points, medicine and activity instructions, self-care guidance and follow-up information where applicable. Records should support transfer to another practitioner.
Can a clinic republish favourable clinical comments?
Ahpra’s advertising guideline prohibits positive patient endorsements about clinical care in regulated health service advertising. It also addresses publishing, linking to, resharing or interacting with those statements. Read the current regulator wording directly.
Does following Ahpra guidance also satisfy TGA rules?
Not automatically. Ahpra and National Boards regulate practitioners and regulated health service advertising, while the TGA regulates therapeutic goods and their advertising. Multiple frameworks can apply to the same communication.
Is Core Aesthetics endorsed by Ahpra?
No endorsement is claimed. Corey Anderson RN’s registration can be checked independently, and this page describes the clinic’s documented approach. Only Ahpra can state its regulatory position.
Clinical references
- Ahpra: Guidelines for registered health practitioners who perform non-surgical cosmetic procedures
- Ahpra: Guidelines for advertising higher risk non-surgical cosmetic procedures
- Ahpra: Public register of practitioners
- TGA: Advertising health services that involve therapeutic goods
- TGA: Advertising health services and cosmetic injections FAQ
- Medical Board of Australia: Guidelines for registered medical practitioners who perform cosmetic surgery and procedures