The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has issued a draft determination proposing to deny authorisation to a Code of Practice and bylaws developed by the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery.
The code and relevant bylaws contain advertising guidelines and guidelines for informed consent which College members are required to follow, as well as processes for dealing with complaints under the code and bylaws.
"The ACCC considers codes that promote the provision of accurate and complete information to consumers, and the ethical and professional conduct of members, are likely to produce public benefits," ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said.
"However, the ACCC has concerns that a number of clauses in the College's code are not effective in this regard. The ACCC considers the code in its current form is underdeveloped, and encourages the College to further develop the code with a view to addressing the concerns raised.
"A number of government health departments have also raised concerns about the code through the ACCC's public consultation process."
Concerns raised by stakeholders include that the code advertising guidelines do not adequately address the use of testimonials by College members and are inconsistent with existing Victorian legislation, and that the code does not:
- require College members to provide sufficient information to patients about the members qualifications, credentials, training and experience
- include a sufficiently robust and well promoted complaints handling procedure, and
- provide a transparent external appeals process.
A number of other concerns were also raised by government health departments and other interested parties.
The College has indicated a willingness to consider some of the concerns raised through the ACCC's public consultation process. However, the College has not, to date, proposed specific changes to its code to address these concerns.
In this respect, the ACCC is required to assess the public benefits and detriments of the code as submitted for authorisation.
Authorisation provides immunity from court action for conduct that might otherwise raise concerns under the competition provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974. Broadly, the ACCC may grant an authorisation when it is satisfied that the public benefit from the conduct outweighs any public detriment. The ACCC conducts a comprehensive public consultation process and issues a draft determination before making a decision to grant or deny authorisation.
The ACCC's draft determination will be available from the ACCC website. The ACCC is seeking submissions from interested parties in relation to its draft determination. Submissions should be made by 13 March 2009 to: The General Manager, Adjudication Branch, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, GPO Box 3131, Canberra, ACT, 2601. Submissions can also be lodged by fax on (02) 6243 1211 or by email to: adjudication@accc.gov.au.
Media inquires: Mr Brent Rebecca (02) 6243 1317 or 0408 995 408
General inquires: Infocentre: 1300 302 502