Queensland Health Ombudsman

Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (Surgeons) Amendment Bill 2023

This bill protects the title 'surgeon' so that only medical practitioners with significant specialist surgical training can use it. It responds to widespread consumer confusion in the cosmetic surgery industry, where any doctor could previously call themselves a 'cosmetic surgeon' regardless of their qualifications, putting patients at risk of serious harm. As Queensland is the host jurisdiction for the national health practitioner law, these changes apply across Australia.