Health-Related Business Guidelines

Businesses that perform the following procedures must follow the requirements of the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008: 

  • Beauty treatments including:
    • Hairdressing, makeup, spray tans, facials, hair removal (electrolysis/IPL/laser/wax/threading), manicures, pedicures, foot spa treatments
  • Skin penetration procedures:
    • Ear piercing, body piercing, electrolysis, tattooing and other skin penetration procedures

Health Guidelines for Personal Care and Body Art Industries  

To obtain a copy of the Department of Health and Human Services' 'Infection prevention and control guidelines for hair, beauty, tattooing and skin penetration industries’, visit Personal Care Body Art Industries.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

  • Equipment, furniture, fittings, floors and walls should be purpose-built or bought specifically for the task to be performed
  • Equipment, furniture, fittings, floors and walls should be durable, safe and suitable for cleaning and maintenance, and made of sealed, nonporous material
  • Adequate lighting and ventilation must be provided throughout the premises
  • The area of client procedure rooms/cubicles should be no less than 2.5m2

SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

  • A handwash basin with hot and cold running water supplied through a single outlet, liquid soap and paper towels should be installed in the immediate procedure area
  • Where skin penetration procedures are performed, the hand basin should be hands-free (for example, foot operated, electronically controlled or knee-operated). Elbow-operated taps are not desirable.
  • A sink with hot and cold water in addition to the handwash basin is to be provided exclusively for washing equipment and instruments and is to be located in the cleaning area.

STERILISATION

  • Premises with processes that involve skin penetration including body piercing, electrolysis and tattooing must have a means of sterilising equipment
  • "Steam under pressure" sterilisation is the only recommended process for businesses in the personal care and body art industries. Bench-top autoclaves should conform to AS2182.

CLIENT INFORMATION

  • Regulation 35 of the Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations 2019: proprietors of a skin-penetration premises must provide written information directly to their client before the process about the risk of infectious disease transmission
  • Regulation 38 of the Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations 2019: a notice of the business scope must be displayed in a prominent position in the entry to the business
  • Notices about the scope of registration and client information sheets are available by on the Department of Health and Human Services website: Notices about scope of registration and client information sheets.
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