Selecting Your Plastic Surgeon in Sydney

Your choice of surgeon is an important part of your decision to undertake plastic, reconstructive or cosmetic surgery. Before your commit to a surgical procedure or clinic, check some details first. What should you look for in a cosmetic or plastic surgeon? Here are some of the important factors in ensuring that your surgeon is of fully trained and capable of delivering your best results.

What is the legislation regarding cosmetic surgery in Australia?

The 1999 NSW Cosmetic Surgery Inquiry was headed by Associate Professor Merrilyn Walton, the founding Commissioner for the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission. She reported that “the lack of regulation allow(s) any registered medical doctor in NSW to describe himself or herself as a cosmetic surgeon, even with no formal training beyond a basic medical degree” [Source: Sydney Morning Herald 2006].

Since then, regulators have dragged their heels at legislating change to protect patients. Some progress was made with the AHPRA advertising guidelines of 2010 and 2014. In June 2010, the Medical Board of Australia designated that all doctors should only use their allocated specialist titles. However it was very common for doctors without recognised surgical training to use a title that was similar but not exactly the same as recognised titles. This created confusion for the public, and was designed to project that they had training that was recognised by the Australian Medical Council.

There was little change in laws about cosmetic surgery for the next decade until the media shone the spotlight on badly behaved and dangerous doctors (non surgeons) performing cosmetic surgery in 2021 – See Cosmetic Cowboys by 4 Corners. This expose turned up the heat on the regulators and an external review into cosmetic surgery occurred. About a year later, the recommendations were publicised on 1st September 2022.

One of the 16 recommendations was to restrict the use of the title ‘surgeon’ to only doctors whom have completed a higher degree in surgery that is recognised by the Australian Medical Council.

The Guidelines for Cosmetic Surgery were further updated on 1st July 2023, and that has been covered in one of my blogs.

Finally on 13th September 2023, a Federal Law was passed that mandated that a ‘medical practitioner will only be able to use the title ‘surgeon’ if they are registered in one of the recognised specialties of surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology or ophthalmology’. This should put an end to non-surgeons using variations of protected titles to deceive patients.

Medical training and qualifications

All surgery is serious and carries risk. Make sure you check your surgeon’s qualifications, and whether their training is fully accredited by the Australian Medical Council (AMC). This is the only Government-mandated body in Australia that can accredit specialist surgical training.

Your surgeon should have FRACS after their name. This stands for Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. Similar but very different letters may be used, so take care not to be misled. When you’re looking at a plastic surgeon in Sydney, you should see their name, their basic medical degree, and then FRACS, which gives you an indicator of the quality of their training.

Part of the updated (1st July 2023) Guidelines for Cosmetic Surgery was that practitioners need to identify themselves using their AHPRA number and their specialist medical title. Patients should be looking for ‘Specialist Plastic Surgeon’ in this section of any print or electronic advertising.

As of 13th September 2023, only AMC recognised surgical specialties are allowed to use the word ‘surgeon’ in their title. Patients should be cautious of having surgical procedures performed by a doctor who is not a surgeon.

Specialist Plastic Surgeons in Sydney

Specialist Plastic Surgeon is the protected title for a doctor who is fully qualified in Plastic Surgery. There is a lot of overlap in some of the qualifications and societies that are involved. To be recognised by AHPRA as a specialist plastic surgeon, a doctor needs to be selected for and successfully complete a 5 year training program in Plastic Surgery which covers all aspects of reconstructive and cosmetic surgery. By the time a surgeon has finished plastic surgery training, they have completed 8-10 years of post graduate training. This training program is overseen by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, so completion of this training allows the surgeon to use FRACS (Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons) after their name. This is the highest level of training available in plastic, reconstructive and cosmetic surgery. The professional body for all Plastic Surgeons is ASPS (Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons).

Surgeons who display the logo of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) are accredited by the AMC and FRACS to perform all aspects of plastic, reconstructive & cosmetic surgery.Members of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons adhere to a strict code of ethics, and are required to fulfill continuing education requirements that include maintenance of clinical standards and innovations in patient safety.

Plastic Surgeons are trained in a broad range of cosmetic and reconstructive procedures, and are at the forefront of surgical and non-surgical cosmetic solutions. Reconstructive surgery requires skills and the knowledge of latest innovations and techniques that would be beyond the training of other surgeons.

Cosmetic Plastic Surgeons in Sydney

To make things even more complicated, there was a branch of ASPS developed that was dedicated to cosmetic plastic surgery. The Australian Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ASAPS) was established in 1978 and has been the leading body in education and training on cosmetic surgery since. It is my opinion that using ‘aesthetic’ rather than ‘cosmetic’ in the titling helped fuel confusion in patients as to the difference between ‘cosmetic surgeons’ and ‘plastic surgeons’. In January 2025, a recent addition to the growing number of professional bodies in this space is the Australian and New Zealand Board of Cosmetic Plastic Surgeons. This is a subset of ASAPS, but it is my belief that they will eventually merge. A new page was written in early February 2025 explaining their role in the cosmetic surgery space.

Summary of how to find your Sydney Plastic Surgeon

If you are looking for reconstructive surgery, your baseline should be to look for a Specialist Plastic Surgeon. You can check if this surgeon is fully trained and endorsed by the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons by going to the Find a Surgeon page on the ASPS website.

If you are looking for cosmetic surgery, your best bet is to find a surgeon who is Board Certified by ANZBCPS on their website search page.