Patient Safety and Informed Consent at Core Aesthetics

Patient safety is not a policy at Core Aesthetics. It is the organising principle of everything we do. Every consultation, every clinical decision, every treatment protocol and every aftercare recommendation is shaped by the same question: what is safest and most appropriate for this individual client?

This page explains how Core Aesthetics approaches patient safety and informed consent in all cosmetic injectable treatments.

“Good information changes the quality of the decision.”

Informed Consent

Informed consent is the process by which a client receives all relevant information about a proposed treatment, its nature, realistic outcomes, potential risks, alternatives and what happens after treatment, and has the opportunity to ask questions and make a genuinely informed decision about whether to proceed.

At Core Aesthetics, informed consent is obtained for all treatments and is never treated as a formality. You will be given time to read and consider consent materials, to ask questions and to decline or defer treatment without any pressure. Informed consent can be withdrawn at any point before treatment begins.

Clinical Assessment Before All Treatment

All treatments at Core Aesthetics begin with an individual clinical assessment. This is not a formality preceding a predetermined treatment plan. It is the mechanism through which the appropriate clinical recommendation is determined. Corey assesses your anatomy, reviews your medical history, discusses your goals and identifies whether treatment is appropriate for your individual situation.

There are clients who come to Core Aesthetics seeking a specific treatment and leave with a recommendation that differs from what they came in for, or with an honest recommendation that treatment is not appropriate at this time. This is not a failure of the consultation. It is the consultation functioning as it should.

TGA Registered Products

All injectable products used at Core Aesthetics are prescription medicines registered with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). They are used in accordance with TGA regulations, which require a valid clinical assessment and prescription before administration. Core Aesthetics does not use unregistered products or products sourced outside of authorised supply chains.

AHPRA Registered Practitioner

All treatments at Core Aesthetics are performed by Corey Anderson, a registered health practitioner regulated by AHPRA. You can verify practitioner registration on the AHPRA public register. AHPRA also publishes guidelines for registered health practitioners in cosmetic procedures, which inform the clinical standards at Core Aesthetics.

Known Risks and Complications

Like all injectable treatments, cosmetic injectables carry risks. Common, expected effects include bruising, swelling and mild discomfort at injection sites. These typically resolve within days. Less common risks include infection, asymmetry and, in rare cases, vascular complications related to the proximity of facial blood vessels to injection sites.

Less common but serious risks are explained clearly during your consultation. You will have the opportunity to ask questions about any risk before proceeding. At Core Aesthetics, risk communication is a clinical priority, not a box to be ticked.

Aftercare and follow-up

All clients at Core Aesthetics receive specific aftercare instructions following their treatment. If you have any concerns following treatment, whether about a physical response, the appearance of the treated area or any other aspect of your aftercare, you are encouraged to contact the clinic directly rather than relying on general online advice. Prompt clinical assessment is always the appropriate first step.

Contact Core Aesthetics

Core Aesthetics is at 12A Atherton Road, Oakleigh VIC 3166. Phone: 0491 706 705. Email: support@coreaesthetics.com.au. Open Tuesday to Saturday by appointment.

2025 Regulatory Context

Australia’s regulatory framework for cosmetic injectable treatments has been progressively strengthened since AHPRA introduced updated guidelines for practitioners performing cosmetic procedures in 2023. Through 2024 and into 2025, AHPRA has reinforced requirements around mandatory individual clinical assessment before any prescription cosmetic treatment, cooling off periods for certain procedures, and the scope of practice expectations for nurses and other registered practitioners.

The TGA has also maintained active enforcement of its advertising guidelines, which prohibit therapeutic claims, progress documentation comparisons, and testimonials about treatment outcomes. Clinics operating in compliance with these requirements in 2025 will have transparent consultation processes, verifiable AHPRA registration for all treating practitioners, and content that describes treatments clinically rather than claiming outcomes.

Related: Read more about Core Aesthetics Oakleigh and book a consultation at Core Aesthetics, Oakleigh.

Safety, Suitability and Clinical Assessment

All cosmetic injectable procedures carry risk. The suitability assessment at consultation identifies any contraindications or relative risk factors specific to your circumstances, including medical history, current medications, previous procedures, and anatomical features that may affect the risk profile for a given treatment area. This information is reviewed before any treatment is planned.

For certain conditions and medications, injectable treatments are not appropriate, or require modification of technique or timing. For others, the treating practitioner may recommend that you consult with your primary healthcare provider before proceeding. These are clinical judgements that can only be made with accurate, complete medical history information, which is why the consultation history taking process is thorough.

Complication recognition and initial management are part of the clinical competency required of practitioners performing injectable treatments under AHPRA’s September 2025 guidelines for nonsurgical cosmetic procedures. The practitioner at Core Aesthetics holds current training in this area and maintains the relevant management supplies on site. Understanding that risk exists and is actively managed is more useful than assuming procedures carry no risk.

Review Appointments and Ongoing Care

A review appointment at four to six weeks is a standard part of every treatment cycle at Core Aesthetics. The review is not contingent on whether you have concerns, it is a clinical standard that applies to every patient. At review, the practitioner assesses the result across all treated areas, compares the outcome to the pretreatment clinical photographs, identifies any asymmetry or variation in response between sides, and determines whether any adjustment is appropriate within the same treatment cycle.

The review is also where longitudinal data about how your specific anatomy responds to treatment is recorded. Over multiple treatment cycles, this accumulated data allows the practitioner to refine the dosing and approach to better match your individual response pattern, which is one of the most significant advantages of maintaining a consistent treating practitioner rather than moving between clinics.

If you have any concerns in the period between your treatment and your review appointment, contact the clinic directly. The practitioner who treated you has the clinical context to respond accurately to any post treatment question, which is preferable to relying on general online information that may not reflect your specific situation.

What the Assessment Covers

The assessment at the consultation appointment is a face wide evaluation, not a focused review of only the area you have identified as a concern. This full face approach is deliberate: anatomical features interact with each other, and addressing one area in isolation, without understanding the broader facial context, can produce results that look disproportionate even when the individual area was technically treated well.

The practitioner evaluates facial symmetry, bone structure, soft tissue distribution, skin quality, and the dynamic movement patterns associated with each treatment area. The history taking covers your current medications, any previous injectable or surgical procedures, relevant health conditions, and any prior reactions or complications. From this assessment, the practitioner develops a treatment plan that reflects your specific anatomy and circumstances.

Results vary between individuals. What the assessment finds in one patient may be different from what it finds in another patient with a similar presenting concern, which is why templated treatment protocols are not used here. All treatments at Core Aesthetics are consultation-based and individually assessed.

The long-term Approach

Most patients who pursue cosmetic injectable treatment are thinking about the long-term, even when they are not sure how to articulate that. The question is not just “what can I have done today” but “how do I age well over the next decade”. Those are different questions, and they require different conversations.

At Core Aesthetics, the planning conversation is oriented toward the long-term. What does gradual maintenance look like over several years? Which areas are the highest priority given current changes? When should treatment begin, and when is it appropriate to wait? What is the realistic trajectory if treatment is maintained consistently versus started later?

These questions are best answered in the context of an individual assessment, because the answers depend on anatomy, rate of change, starting point, and personal goals, all of which vary. The consultation is where that conversation happens. Results vary between individuals, and a long-term plan reflects that variability rather than applying a standard approach.

About This Information

The information on this page is provided for general educational purposes. It is not a substitute for clinical advice and does not constitute a recommendation that you proceed with any particular treatment. Cosmetic injectable treatments are prescription medical procedures. They carry risks that vary between individuals and that must be assessed and discussed in a clinical context before any treatment decision is made.

At Core Aesthetics, Corey Anderson assesses every patient individually. The consultation is the point at which your specific anatomy, medical history, and goals are evaluated together. No treatment is offered at a first appointment, and no treatment is appropriate for everyone. This page is a starting point, a way to understand what is involved before you decide whether a consultation is the right next step for you.

If you have questions about anything on this page or about whether treatment might be appropriate for your situation, you are welcome to call the clinic or book a consultation at no obligation.

This page provides clinical information about Patient Safety and Informed Consent at Core Aesthetics. It is intended for adults aged 18 and over who are considering cosmetic injectable treatment and want to understand the clinical process, suitability factors, and what to expect from a consultation-based practice. All treatment decisions at Core Aesthetics follow individual assessment, no treatment is offered at a first appointment without a separate consultation. Results vary between individuals and are reviewed at follow-up.

At Core Aesthetics, every consultation, assessment, and treatment is performed personally by Corey Anderson, Registered Nurse, AHPRA NMW0001047575. The AHPRA registration number is the patient’s verification mechanism: it can be searched on the public AHPRA register at ahpra.gov.au to confirm current registration status, qualifications, and any conditions on practice. Patients are encouraged to do this for any practitioner offering cosmetic injectable treatment, including this one.

What Informed Consent Actually Covers

Informed consent in cosmetic injectable practice is not a signature on a form. It is a conversation with documentation. The conversation covers what the proposed treatment is, the realistic range of outcomes including the likelihood of needing a follow-up, the specific risks (common, uncommon, and rare), the alternatives including the alternative of not treating, the cost, the cooling-off interval where applicable under AHPRA September 2025 guidance, and the practitioner’s recommendation. The documentation records that the conversation happened and that the patient had the opportunity to ask questions.

The risks discussed are not generic. They are tailored to the specific area being considered, the specific product class, the specific dose range, and the patient’s individual medical history. Tear-trough filler carries a different risk profile from chin filler, and both differ from periocular anti-wrinkle treatment. The patient on anti-coagulant therapy has a different bruising profile from one who is not. The patient with prior filler in the area has different considerations from one with virgin tissue. Genuine consent is informed by the specifics, not by a templated list.

Patients are encouraged to ask questions during this conversation. Common useful questions include: what is the realistic range of outcomes given my anatomy, what would make you decide not to proceed today, what is the most common adverse event in this category, what is the worst-case scenario and how often does it happen, what is the plan if I am unhappy with the result, and how do I reach you if something concerning happens after I leave. None of these questions should be unwelcome. Practitioners who treat them as friction are signalling something about how they conceptualise the patient’s role in the decision.

The practitioner’s role is to share clinical judgment honestly. Sometimes that means explaining why the requested treatment is appropriate and proceeding. Sometimes it means explaining why a different approach would serve the patient better. Sometimes it means explaining why no treatment in this category at this stage is the clinical recommendation. Patients have the right to disagree, to seek a second opinion, or to defer the decision. None of those choices are failures of the consultation. They are the consultation working as intended.

How Adverse Events Are Actually Managed

Most cosmetic injectable treatments are uneventful. The treatment is performed, mild swelling and occasional bruising follow over a week to ten days, the two-week review confirms the settled result, and the patient continues with their planned treatment cycle. The adverse-event-management discussion at consultation is not framed around what is likely to happen; it is framed around what to do if something does happen, because the time-sensitive scenarios depend on early recognition and prompt response rather than on perfect prevention.

The most clinically significant adverse event is vascular compromise, most often produced by inadvertent injection into or compression of a blood vessel. The clinical signs include immediate pain disproportionate to the procedure, blanching of the skin downstream of the injection site, a mottled or reticulated discolouration, and (in rare periorbital cases) visual symptoms. The clinical response is immediate hyaluronidase administration to dissolve the offending hyaluronic-acid filler, warm compresses, and supportive care, with escalation to ophthalmological evaluation if any visual symptoms are present. The clinic carries hyaluronidase on site and the practitioner is trained to recognise and respond to vascular events.

Allergic and inflammatory reactions are uncommon but documented. Late-onset nodules can occur weeks to months after treatment and may reflect granulomatous inflammation, biofilm formation, or delayed hypersensitivity. The clinical response varies by the suspected mechanism and may include intralesional steroid, antibiotic therapy, hyaluronidase, or surgical intervention in rare cases. Patients are encouraged to report any unexpected swelling, redness, tenderness, or palpable change in a treated area regardless of the time elapsed since treatment.

Infection is rare with appropriate aseptic technique but is included in the consent conversation. Signs include progressive redness, warmth, tenderness, fever, and purulent discharge. The clinical response is prompt antibiotic therapy and, where indicated, drainage and microbiological assessment.

Patients are given direct contact details for the practitioner before leaving any treatment appointment. After-hours genuinely urgent symptoms (sudden vision change, severe pain, signs of vascular compromise) should be escalated immediately to the nearest emergency department or 000 rather than waited out. The clinic is operated by Corey Anderson, Registered Nurse, AHPRA NMW0001047575.

Where To Verify A Practitioner’s Registration

The single most useful step a patient can take in cosmetic injectable healthcare is verifying the practitioner’s AHPRA registration on the public register at ahpra.gov.au. The register lists the practitioner’s full name, registration number, current registration status, qualifications, and any conditions on practice. Searching by name and confirming the registration is current takes under a minute and is the appropriate baseline check for any practitioner offering this category of treatment. Patients are encouraged to use the same check for any clinic they consider, including this one.