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Dr Tass on What Tightening Cosmetic Prescribing Rules Mean for Patients Using Online or Telehealth Providers

Dr Tass Cosmetic & Skin Clinics

Key Facts:

• AHPRA and the National Boards published guidelines in September 2025 requiring all cosmetic injectable prescriptions to involve a real-time in-person or video consultation, making asynchronous methods such as tick-box questionnaires and email approvals no longer acceptable.
• The TGA updated its advertising guidance in November 2025 to restrict social media promotion of prescription-only cosmetic products, with penalties of up to $1.65 million per breach for individuals under the Therapeutic Goods Act.
• New medicines laws commencing 5 November 2026 in NSW will impose additional obligations on cosmetic businesses, particularly around the adequacy of remote clinical assessments, with the Australian Beauty Association urging clinic owners to review telehealth prescribing arrangements before that date.
• Dr Tass Tasiopoulos warns that patients should ensure their treatment is being prescribed through a compliant process involving genuine clinical oversight, rather than a questionnaire followed by a script.
• Dr Tass Cosmetic & Skin Clinics, which holds AGPAL accreditation and has performed over 60,000 procedures since 2009, conducts all prescribing following thorough in-person consultations across its three Melbourne locations.

MELBOURNE, Australia — 16 October 2026 — Dr Tass Cosmetic & Skin Clinics, a Melbourne cosmetic medicine practice with more than 17 years of clinical experience since 2009 and over 60,000 procedures performed, says the regulatory changes tightening how cosmetic injectables are prescribed across Australia have direct practical implications for patients who have been accessing treatments through telehealth or online platforms, and that many are not yet aware of what those changes require of the practitioner prescribing to them.

The changes are layered and recent. AHPRA and the National Boards published guidelines for cosmetic procedures in September 2025 that apply nationally to all registered health practitioners performing non-surgical cosmetic procedures. Under those guidelines, every prescription for a cosmetic injectable now requires a real-time in-person or video consultation with the prescribing practitioner. Asynchronous prescribing, including tick-box questionnaires, text-based assessments, and email approvals, is no longer acceptable practice. The TGA updated its advertising guidance in November 2025 to restrict social media promotion of prescription-only cosmetic products and named cosmetic injectables as a stated enforcement priority through 2026 and 2027, with penalties under the Therapeutic Goods Act reaching $1.65 million per breach for individuals.

NSW is now taking the requirements further. New medicines laws commencing 5 November 2026 will place additional obligations on cosmetic businesses operating in the state, including requirements around the adequacy of clinical assessments conducted remotely. The Australian Beauty Association has advised clinic owners using telehealth prescribing arrangements to review those arrangements before the November commencement date.

"The question patients should now be asking is not just whether the treatment they are receiving is safe, but whether the process used to prescribe it is compliant with what the regulator now requires. A real-time consultation where a clinician actually looks at your face, asks about your medical history, and makes a clinical assessment before prescribing is a fundamentally different thing to a questionnaire followed by a script. Those two processes produce the same prescription but a very different level of clinical oversight, and the regulator has now drawn that line clearly," said Dr Tass Tasiopoulos, MBBS, BSc Hons, FCPCA, founder of Dr Tass Cosmetic & Skin Clinics.

Dr Tass Cosmetic & Skin Clinics provides clinical cosmetic assessment as the first step in every patient engagement. The practice holds AGPAL accreditation and is led by a registered medical practitioner with Fellowship in Cosmetic Practice. All prescribing is carried out following a thorough in-person consultation to assess patient suitability, skin type, treatment goals, and medical history. The practice operates across three Melbourne locations: Crown Spa Melbourne, Port Melbourne, and Ripponlea.

About us:

About Dr Tass Cosmetic & Skin Clinics

Dr Tass Cosmetic & Skin Clinics is a Melbourne-based cosmetic medicine practice founded by Dr Tass Tasiopoulos (MBBS, BSc Hons, FCPCA), a registered medical practitioner with more than 17 years of clinical experience since 2009 and over 60,000 procedures performed. The practice operates across three Melbourne locations: Crown Spa Melbourne, Port Melbourne, and Ripponlea, and holds AGPAL accreditation.

Contact details:

Media Enquiries

Dr Tass Cosmetic & Skin Clinics

Stephanie Tasiopoulos

[email protected]

03 9908 3737