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Medical practitioners' use of the title "surgeon" under the National Law

Decided by
Health Ministers' Meeting

Announcement date
14 December 2022

Link to announcement
Health Ministers’ Meeting – Communique (14 December 2022) | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care

Link to Consultation Impact Analysis

Medical practitioners' use of the title surgeon under the National Law | The Office of Impact Analysis (pmc.gov.au)

Problem being addressed
Currently, all registered medical practitioners in Australia can use the title "surgeon", including "cosmetic surgeon", even when they have completed different levels of training or hold different qualifications. This may be confusing for members of the public, who may not have knowledge of medical practitioner qualifications and training. There is also a concern that this confusion may be leading to avoidable and disproportionate risks and harms to the public, resulting from poor cosmetic surgical outcomes.

Proposal
The Decision Impact Analysis (IA) provides an analysis of the regulatory impacts of title restriction and alternative options, and recommends a preferred option. The Decision IA follows a Consultation IA - formerly known as a Consultation RIS - released in December 2021 that explained the current regulatory framework and the potential issues that may be arising from it, and sought feedback on the potential reform options. The three options detailed in the Decision IA include:

  • Option 1: Maintaining the status quo.
  • Option 2: Strengthening guidance on the use of the title ‘surgeon’ using existing mechanisms in the National Scheme.
  • Option 3: Restricting the title ‘surgeon’ in the National Law.
    • Option 3.1: Restricting the title ‘surgeon’ to the 10 surgical specialty fields of practice.
    • Option 3.2: Restricting the title ‘surgeon’ to medical practitioners with significant surgical training.

The Decision IA recommends Option 3.2 as the option that is anticipated to have the greatest impact in addressing the policy problem.

Assessed IA outcome
Compliant 

Attachment File type Size
Decision Impact Analysis docx 1.93 MB
Decision Impact Analysis pdf 2.03 MB