Check What’s included in your Surgery Cost Quote
- It’s best to review in detail and to ask – what your quote actually covers.
- Beware of low-cost pricing advertisements for cosmetic surgery, you may end up with extra out-of-pocket costs you weren’t expecting.
- Hidden expenses of non-inclusive quotes or price estimates mean you’ll pay extra for:
- Recovery aids (if any available) and/or longer recovery times without recovery support
- You will need compression garments or special bras for post-op care
- Follow-up care visits
- Hospital charges or operating facility fees (these should be included but advertised prices often leave this part of the cost out of the surgery price advertisement)
- As well as, the cost of an Anesthetist
Discount shopping is NOT recommended for serious surgical procedures. ALL surgery is invasive and carries risks and potential complications.
You will typically live with your surgery results for a lifetime, so it’s simply not worth skimping on the quality of your Surgeon or your surgery experience.
Find out what happened to patients who THOUGHT they had a reputable surgeon when they fell for discounted breast augmentation in Sydney – as patients discuss in the Four Corner’s report on outcomes from low-cost cosmetic surgery (discounted specials).
To find out the range of surgery prices and costs involved in your chosen procedure, follow the links below
Why do cosmetic surgery prices Differ around Australia?
Major price differences for plastic cosmetic surgery procedures often reflect the type of Surgeon who is performing the operation – including skills, expertise level and qualifications.
While significant price differences may be confusing to cosmetic surgery patients at first, these differences typically indicate the surgery is either:
- NOT inclusive of everything needed AND/OR
- Not being performed by a seasoned specialist AND/OR
- Being performed using local anaesthetic methods, not under general anaesthetic
It is important to be sure you’ve chosen a genuinely qualified surgeon. Look for someone who is AHPRA (Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency) recognised as being a Specialist Plastic Surgeon rather than just a so-called ‘cosmetic doctor’ (a General Practitioner or skin doctor). There is often a huge difference in training and ongoing education for Plastic Surgeons vs other types of doctors who enter the cosmetic surgery field.
Plastic Surgeons are typically the most qualified and/or extensively tested in surgical skills for both cosmetic, plastic surgery and reconstructive procedures. If not, you may end up surprised at how little experience your Surgeon actually has. Furthermore, if they’re not specialist Plastic Surgeons, they will not tend to have hospital operating and admitting rights. They’ll only be able to operate in either their own day surgery centers or back room (not recommended).
Why the Price of Cosmetic Surgery In Australia varies
You may have seen low-cost advertisements for cosmetic surgery promoting ‘breast surgery specials’ and discount consultations, these consultations are considered ‘inducements to surgery’. In fact, you could argue that discount surgery ‘specials’ and no-cost consultations are in breach of Australian medical codes regulating the cosmetic surgery industry.
Additionally not all surgeons who advertise are actually Plastic Surgeon Specialists, many are just General Practitioners or doctors who have not completed the 12 to 14 years of Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery training. Many take a year-long or even a weekend course in plastic surgery, and due to the lack of regulations any Australian doctor can use the title ‘cosmetic surgeon’ but only a genuine qualified plastic surgeon is able to use the Plastic Surgeon title and name.
Which factors contribute to How much surgery costs, or how much a Surgeon charges?
- Experience of the Surgeon. What’s their formal training and qualifications
- The degree of Customisation, advanced techniques and suturing, as well as, safety measures and other surgical components
- Types of anaesthesia and pain management plus follow up care
- Premium vs cheap brands (breast implants)
- Drains vs no drains
- Incision placement, incision healing aids and protocols
- Post-up recovery aids
- Recovery necessities
- Garments
- Scar management
- And, finally hospital operating privileges (top Surgeons usually have either private and/or public hospital operating rights and admission rights in accredited hospital facilities)
Low-Cost Cosmetic Surgery Price Ranges
Low-cost Cosmetic Surgery in Melbourne Victoria, Australia
- Usually do NOT involve a genuine, fully-accredited Australia private hospital theatre
- Either a Day Surgery centre or a back room of a clinic with lower standards
- Typically a doctor but NOT being done an experienced Specialist Plastic Surgeon
- Potentially a General Practitioner or skin doctor who may have taken a year-long course but who never gained accreditation and training as a Specialist Plastic Surgeon
- NOTE: most hospitals do not allow a General Practitioner or other non-FRACS (Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons) cosmetic surgeon to operate in their theatre facilities, this is because they are not actual Specialists and because they do not meet the operating qualifications criteria in Australia hospitals
- Maybe overseas or a junior doctor rather than one holding Specialist medical and surgical qualifications monitored in Australia.
- May use less expensive low-quality breast prosthesis rather than reputable brands and highly rated breast implant types or brands, supplied by well-respected manufacturers in Australia.
Example
- For example, an average low cost or discounted price for Breast Augmentation (Breast Implant Surgery) might be advertised as being from around $7,000 to nearly $10,000; and may potentially involve:
- Non-hospital operating conditions (clinic back room – not the best for an emergency situation as shown in ABC’s Four Corners story)
- Awake anaesthetic, also referred to as twilight sedation vs general anaesthetic
- Hidden costs for all follow-up care
- Limited post-op care or being charged for all post-operative care reviews
- No supply of recommended post-op garments
- Healing and recovery aids not included
- As well as, no scar management
- Remember, a cosmetic surgeon is not equal to a Specialist Plastic Surgeon in terms of accreditation, formal training, Medical Board and AHPRA (Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency) recognition and surgical examinations.
- Suggestion: search our pages for articles Cosmetic Vs Plastic Surgeon AND learn the prices of low-cost breast implants, mid-range breast augmentation and premium implant options.
Mid-Range Cosmetic Surgery Prices
Mid-range cosmetic surgery costs – average prices, cost differences
- May or may not involve operating in a fully-accredited Australia Private Hospital
- If not in a hospital, may use a high-tech surgical facility that meets accreditation
- Might also be a clinic back room that lacks specialised equipment or sanitation monitoring
- May or may not involve a highly experienced Specialist Plastic Surgeon
- Check education and AHPRA (Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency) registration, RACS (Royal Australasian College of Surgeons) accreditation and memberships
- Check how many operations they have performed
- Review how long that Surgeon has been in practice in Australia
- Read not only their Plastic Surgery Google Reviews but also other other online social media reviews.
- May involve a less expensive breast implant
- Motiva breast implants are currently the most costly breast augmentation implant options in Australia, yet Motiva has been reported to offer certain advantages
- Motiva brand implants are ONLY available from certified Plastic Surgeons because manufacturers do not allow Cosmetic Doctors to purchase them because they are not Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS)
- Mentor is also a reputable and reliable brand of breast implants in Australia
- A mid-range priced Breast Augmentation under $14,500 MAY potentially involve:
- A quality operating facility (private theatre) ORA genuine accredited Private Hospital in Australia
- Twilight Anaesthetic Or General Anaesthetic from a qualified Hospital Anaesthetist (Facility dependent, may vary from mid-range proceed cosmetic surgery offers)
- May or may not include follow up care and reveiws – Review your cosmetic surgery price quote.
- Likely to supple post-op garments, however make sure you review your cosmetic surgery price quote for details
- May or may not provide extras such as bandages and other recovery aids
- Might or might not include high-tech scar management
Often lacks extras that premium cosmetic surgery prices and costs include in their Quotes
Premium Price Ranges
Premium care and customised cosmetic surgery costs. Average prices, cost differences.
- Typically involves surgery performed in a fully accredited Australia Private Hospital (see list below).
- A highly-experienced and popular Specialist Plastic Surgeon with a long-standing reputation in Australia and a local clinic that has positive online reviews.
- The surgeon typically has AHPRA (Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency) accreditation and recognition as a genuine FRACS (Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons) (Plas). e.g, a legitimate Specialist Plastic, Cosmetic and Reconstructive Surgeon
- Surgeons in this price range tend to have current membership in;
- ASAPS – Australasian Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons
- ASPS – Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons
- ISAPS – International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery
- And more.
- The surgeon will have performed an extensive number of the procedure over many decades (verifiable expertise)
- Online REVIEWS of the Plastic Surgeon across social media platforms report ‘highly recommended’ and 5-star patient care standards
- Scars and recovery are properly managed by the Plastic Surgeon and their skilled Surgical Nurses.
- TIP: Review your Plastic Surgeon’s Google Reviews and other social media reviews
- Recognise Cosmetic doctors are NOT equal to Plastic Surgeons in terms of training/accreditation/medical board recognition.
Implant quality
- May involve a higher cost, premium quality breast implant (e.g., a Motiva breast prosthesis or Mentor implants)
- Motiva breast implants are the most expensive breast augmentation implant in Australia, however, Motiva has been reported to offer certain advantages
- Motiva brand implants are ONLY available through certified Plastic Surgeons
- Manufacturers do not allow general Cosmetic Doctors or non-Plastic Surgeons to offer these premium breast implant brands
- Mentor is another highly reputable and reliable brand of breast implants in Australia and is slightly lower in cost than Motiva – both are popular with Plastic Surgeons and cosmetic surgery patients Australia
Example of premium Breast Surgery
- For example, a premium Breast Augmentation can cost from $14,000 to $19,000. It may potentially involve:
- A genuine accredited Private Hospital in Australia
- General Anaesthetic from a skilled and fully-qualified Hospital Anaesthetist
- Customisation: includes extensive measuring and planning including 3D imaging or scientifically-inspired implant size selection
- May include a revision surgery clause or additional corrections (such as inverted nipple correction or asymmetry correction for very uneven breasts)
- Follow up: often includes follow up care and post-op surgery reviews for a longer period of time
- Initially recommended post-op garments for surgery are often provided (but check your quote for details)
- Should include recovery aids
- May also include high-tech scar management especially if the surgery is a breast lift with augmentation or a breast reduction
- Click here for the range of prices for premium breast augmentation surgery.
- NOTE – Coco Ruby is a Private Practice
- We don’t offer ‘No Gap’ Surgery, accept TAC (Transport Accident Commission) claims or DVA (Department of Veterans’ Affairs) claims at the clinic.
- Our plastic surgeons no longer perform surgery in a Public Hospitals.
If you have any questions, we welcome your call on (03) 8849 1400 Or send us an enquiry.
