Beauty, Hairdressing and Tattooing
Hairdressing, beauty therapy and skin penetration such as tattooing and body piercing are personal appearance services (PAS).
All personal appearance services need to meet Council's planning scheme requirements and comply with the Public Health (Infection Control for Personal Appearance Services Act 2003, Queensland Development Code, part MP 5.2 - Higher risk personal appearance services and Infection Control Guidelines for Personal Appearance Services.
A personal appearance service can be operated from a home, commercial premises or mobile premises, e.g. a caravan.
Do I Need a Licence?
High-Risk Personal Appearance Services (PAS) involve any skin-penetration procedure, in which the release of blood or other body fluid is an expected result.
All businesses providing High-Risk PAS are required to hold a licence issued by the Council prior to commencing the operation and only provide services from the premises stated on the licence.
Infection Control Qualification
Each person who performs tattooing, body piercing and other skin penetration must hold a 'HLTINF005 - Maintain infection prevention for skin penetration treatments' qualification. This course is available from a number of registered training organisations - for more information visit training.gov.au. You need to provide copies of your employee statement of attainment to Council before starting your business.
You need a licence to perform the following activities:
- body piercing
- implanting a natural or synthetic substance into a person’s skin, for example hair or beads
- scarring or cutting a person’s skin using a sharp instrument to make a permanent mark, pattern or design
- tattooing (including cosmetic tattooing and semi-permanent make-up)
- tattoo removal using micro needles.
Non-High-Risk Personal Appearance Services involve hairdressing, beauty therapy or a skin-penetration procedure that is not a higher-risk personal appearance service (e.g. closed ear or nose piercing).
All businesses providing Non-High-Risk PAS are required to notify Council within 30 days of their operation by filling in a notification form. Businesses must still notify Council if a licence is not required.
You do not need a licence if you perform the following activities:
- non-higher-risk personal appearance services, including:
- hairdressing
- beauty therapy (including facial or body treatments, application of cosmetics, manicures or pedicures, application of, or mending artificial nails, hair removal by electrolysis or wax)
- closed ear or nose piercing
- acupuncture
- massage therapy
- tattoo removal using a laser - you don’t need a licence from Council but you do need a laser licence issued by Queensland Health
- personal appearance services provided within a health-care facility – you don’t need a licence from Council but need to comply with relevant medical legislation