Do I need a licence?

When you do need a licence

Personal appearance services can spread disease and cause infection if not operated safely. This includes:

  • tattooing
  • body piercing
  • skin penetration activities
  • hairdressers
  • nail salons
  • beauty therapists.

Some of these services have a higher risk of spreading disease or causing infection as they can involve the release of blood or bodily fluid.

Businesses providing higher risk personal appearance services require a licence and include:

  • Tattooing
  • Scarring (cutting a person’s skin using a sharp instrument to make a permanent mark, pattern or design)
  • Body piercing (other than piercing nose or ear with piercing gun)
  • Cosmetic tattooing (semi-permanent makeup, microblading, microneedling pigmented serum)
  • Skin needling with implantation (collagen induction therapy, direct needle therapy, tattoo removal)
  • Ear pointing / tongue forking
  • Hair transplant (performed for aesthetic reasons)
  • Cosmetic injectables (botulinum toxin type A, dermal fillers, lipolysis (fat dissolving) injections, collagen injections, mesotherapy, intradermal therapy)
  • Micro-lipo-injection
  • Platelet-rich plasma therapy
  • Thread lift
  • Implant synthetic substance into the skin (eg. hair or beads)

If you are not sure if your personal appearance service needs a licence, contact us.

When you don’t need a licence

You do not need a licence if you only provide the following non-higher risk personal appearance services:

  • 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)
  • Higher-risk personal appearance services carried out in a health-care facility as part of the operation of that facility, such as a public and/or private hospital, a medical practice, a dental practice or similar are not licensable by council.
    • Example 1: Businesses that predominantly provide beauty treatments and some therapeutic treatments are not classified as health-care facilities, even when administered by a healthcare professional.  For example, a beauty clinic provides cosmetic injectables and occasionally administers Botox for excessive sweating (not aesthetic but therapeutic reason for the treatment).
    • Example 2: Beauty therapy businesses operated within a health-care facility but separate from the health-care facility (eg. a nurse hiring a treatment room within a GP clinic to provide cosmetic injectables) would be required to hold a licence with Council.

Locations

If you are operating in two separate locations in Logan City, you only need one licence.

If you have a mobile business (e.g. caravan) you only need a licence from the Council for where you store your vehicle. You can use your licence all over Queensland, as long as you notify the Council at least seven days before you want to operate in their area and provide:

  • your higher risk personal appearance service licence
  • your employees' infection control qualifications
  • dates you intend to operate
  • locations you intend to operate.
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