How to think about choosing a cosmetic injector.

People often ask me how to choose between cosmetic clinics. There is no shortlist of correct answers, but there is a small set of questions worth thinking about — and a smaller set of cues that tend to mislead.

Verify the basics first

Whoever you see, they should be a registered health practitioner. In Australia, every practising medical doctor, nurse, and nurse practitioner is on the public AHPRA register. You can search the register at ahpra.gov.au for free, in less than a minute. If you cannot find the person who would be performing your procedure on the register, do not proceed.

The register tells you the person’s registered profession, any conditions on their registration, and the date their registration was first granted. It will not tell you everything you want to know — but it tells you the floor.

Who will actually do the procedure?

Cosmetic clinics operate under a range of models. Some are doctor-led with the doctor consulting and injecting. Some have nurses or nurse practitioners injecting under prescriber arrangements. Some use telehealth consults with an off-site prescribing doctor. None of these models is automatically wrong — but they are different, and it is reasonable to ask which model your clinic uses.

A useful question: "At my procedure, who will be in the room, what is their registration, and who is responsible if a complication occurs?"

What does the consultation look like?

A consultation is more than a chat. It should cover your goals, your medical history, your current medications and any prior cosmetic work. It should examine the area and discuss alternatives, including the option not to proceed. You should leave the consultation with a clear understanding of what is being proposed, what the risks are, what the expected recovery involves, and what it will cost. Where possible you should leave with a written treatment plan.

If your "consultation" is fifteen minutes that ends with same-day injection, slow down. AHPRA’s September 2025 guidelines for higher-risk non-surgical cosmetic procedures require a cooling-off period between consultation and procedure for good reason. Reputable clinics observe it.

Ask about complication management

Cosmetic procedures are safer than ever, but complications do occur. The questions to ask are not whether complications happen (they do, occasionally, with everyone) but how they are managed.

Worth asking:

• Who do I call if I experience swelling, severe pain, skin colour change, or vision change after an injection procedure (particularly one addressing facial volume)?
• Does the clinic stock hyaluronidase (the enzyme used in the emergency management of vascular occlusion)?
• Is the person available outside hours, or how is after-hours review handled?
• Is there a charge for review of a procedure-related complication?

The presence of clear, written answers to these questions tells you more than any marketing material.

Signals that don’t actually help

Some things people use as signals are not very useful:

• Online reviews and testimonials. Under the September 2025 AHPRA guidelines, testimonials about cosmetic-procedure outcomes are prohibited in advertising. Reviews continue to exist on third-party platforms but are not a permitted decision tool the way they might be for a restaurant. Their absence on a clinic site is a compliance signal, not a quality signal in either direction.
• Before-and-after photos. Where used, they are tightly regulated — real patients of that practitioner, no minors, no airbrushing, no "after" image more prominent than "before". Most outcomes you see on social media reflect the most photogenic results, not the average.
• "Most experienced", "leading", "Sydney’s best". Adjectives are not evidence. Years of registration are. The AHPRA register tells you the latter.
• Celebrity client lists. A clinic’s clients are confidential. References to celebrity or influencer clients in advertising contravene AHPRA guidelines.
• Aggressive promotions. Free or discounted procedures in exchange for promotion are prohibited under AHPRA guidelines. Their use is a sign to ask harder questions, not to book.

A modest checklist

If you want a short list to take with you:

1. Confirm the practitioner is on the AHPRA register.
2. Ask who will perform the procedure, and who is responsible if a complication occurs.
3. Insist on a real consultation and a cooling-off period before any higher-risk non-surgical procedure.
4. Ask to see a written treatment plan with risks and cost before booking.
5. Ask how complications are managed and whether hyaluronidase is stocked on site.
6. Walk away from anyone who pressures you to decide that day.

One last thing

The point of the consultation is not the sale — the point is the right decision for you. A practitioner who declines to proceed because a procedure is not in your best interests is doing their job. So is one who suggests doing less than you came in for, or none at all.