Most Sydney clinics advertise a breast implant removal cost “from” a single number, but exclude the exact situations (such as ruptured implants, hardened capsule or polyurethane implants) that send women looking for an explant in the first place.
Search “breast implant removal cost Australia”, and you’ll find a dozen headline figures and almost no explanation of what sits behind them. The real breast implant removal cost sits on a ladder, and where you land depends on what’s happening inside your breast right now.
Here, we price out different surgeries, explain what each includes, and separate the ones that attract a Medicare rebate from those that don’t.
Key Takeaways
- Breast implant removal cost in Australia typically ranges from around $5,300 out of pocket with private health cover and a Medicare rebate to $18,000 or more without either.
- Advertised “from” prices usually cover only the simplest case.
- Removing the scar capsule (capsulectomy) adds significant theatre time, which is the single biggest driver of price.
- Medicare rebates apply only when there’s a documented medical reason. Wanting your implants out isn’t one, under current MBS rules.
- Expect to pay a consultation fee before any quote is issued.
Breast Implant Removal Cost Australia: Why Explant Surgery Is Rising
The Australian Breast Device Registry recorded 16,968 explant-only procedures between 2012 and 2023.
Women are choosing removal for all sorts of reasons, including ageing devices, capsular contracture, rupture, changed priorities, or symptoms they suspect are linked to their implants. Clinics have responded with price pages. Most of those price pages answer only the simplest version of the question, which is why the published breast implant removal cost that Australian patients see so often bears little resemblance to their final invoice.
What Makes Up the Breast Implant Removal Cost?
Every quote you receive is built from four or five separate fees, and understanding them makes it far easier to compare clinics.
- Surgeon’s fee
- Anaesthetist’s fee
- Hospital and theatre fees
- Surgical assistant’s fee
- Extras (pathology, post-operative garments, follow-up imaging, medications)
A quote that covers only the surgeon’s fee looks dramatically cheaper than one that covers everything, and that difference constantly catches people out.
The Complexity Ladder: Four Levels of Explant Surgery Cost
Explant surgery costs climb in fairly predictable steps as the operation becomes more involved.
Level 1: Implant Removal Only
The implants come out, the capsule stays in. Shortest theatre time, often day surgery, lowest price. Suited to soft, uncomplicated breasts with a thin, healthy capsule.
At BB Clinic, breast implant removal starts at $5,308 out-of-pocket after the Medicare rebate for eligible patients. Uninsured patients should budget an additional $4,000 to $16,000, depending on complexity. Full figures are set out in our pricing guide.
Level 2: Removal With Capsulectomy
The implants and the surrounding scar capsule are both removed. This adds anywhere from 45 minutes to two hours of theatre time, plus a surgical assistant in most cases.
Sydney clinics commonly advertise this tier from around $13,900 to $16,500 for uninsured patients.
Level 3: Ruptured, Contracted or Polyurethane Implants
Ruptured silicone requires careful washout of the pocket. A Baker grade 3 or 4 capsule is thick and firm and takes longer to dissect away from the chest wall and ribs. Polyurethane-coated implants bond into surrounding tissue and are more difficult to separate.
Each of those adds theatre time. Expect to sit at the upper end of the $10,000-$18,000 range and, in complex bilateral cases, beyond it. The upside is that these are precisely the situations that may attract a Medicare rebate.
Level 4: Removal Plus a Breast Lift
After implants come out, skin that has been stretched for a decade or more won’t always retract. Many women combine explant with a lift, resulting in a single operation and a single recovery.
An explant with breast lift is the most expensive tier, because you’re paying for two procedures’ worth of theatre time. Whether a lift is right for you depends on your skin quality, implant size and tissue.
What Is a Capsulectomy, and Why Does It Change the Price?
Your body forms a layer of scar tissue around any implant. That layer is called the capsule, and it’s completely normal.
A breast implant capsulectomy is the surgical removal of that scar tissue. It comes in three forms:
- Partial capsulectomy: only the affected portion of capsule is removed.
- Total capsulectomy: the entire capsule is removed, usually recommended when there’s contracture or rupture.
- En bloc capsulectomy: the implant and intact capsule are removed together as one sealed unit.
En bloc sounds appealing and is often requested by name, but it isn’t always anatomically possible. A very thin capsule sitting against the ribs or chest wall can’t safely be lifted out intact. A surgeon who commits to en bloc before examining you and reviewing your imaging is promising something they can’t yet know.
Cost-wise, the capsule is stuck to your ribs, chest wall muscle and breast tissue. Separating it is slow, meticulous work.
Does Medicare Cover Breast Implant Removal?
Sometimes. Medicare rebates attach to item numbers in the Medicare Benefits Schedule. Four are relevant to explant surgery:
| MBS item | What it covers | Schedule fee |
| 45548 | Breast prosthesis, removal of, as an independent procedure | $331.25 |
| 45551 | Removal with excision of at least half of the fibrous capsule, no new prosthesis | $531.10 |
| 45553 | Removal and replacement, restricted circumstances | – |
| 45554 | Removal and replacement following medical complications (rupture, migration of prosthetic material, symptomatic capsular contracture) | $837.15 |
Source: Medicare Benefits Schedule, Department of Health and Aged Care.
Item 45551 carries conditions that are easy to miss. The MBS explanatory note states it should only be claimed where there is capsular contracture, a mass within the capsule identified on imaging or at surgery, or BIA-ALCL or other malignancy, and the capsule must be sent for histopathology.
Likely to attract a rebate:
- Capsular contracture
- Confirmed rupture or leakage
- Implant infection that hasn’t responded to treatment
- Extrusion
- A mass in the capsule
- BIA-ALCL
- Implants interfering with cancer diagnosis or treatment
Unlikely to attract a rebate:
- Removal because you no longer want implants
- Wanting a different size
- Symptoms without corresponding physical or imaging findings
Medicare pays 75% of the schedule fee for in-hospital services, not 75% of what your surgeon actually charges. You’ll also need a valid GP referral.
For related background, see our article on Medicare and breast implants.
Where Private Health Insurance Fits In
If your explant has a valid MBS item number, your hospital cover may pick up the hospital and theatre fees.
Items 45548, 45551, 45553, and 45554 all fall under the breast surgery (medically necessary) clinical category. Check your policy covers that category, and check your waiting periods have been served.
Where there’s no item number, there’s no health fund benefit. Purely cosmetic explant is a self-funded procedure in Australia.
Breast Implant Removal Cost Sydney: What to Budget
Pulling the Sydney market together, the breast implant removal cost Sydney patients face falls roughly like this:
- Insured, with a valid MBS item number: approximately $5,300 to $13,500 out of pocket, depending on complexity and your level of cover.
- Uninsured, straightforward bilateral explant: approximately $9,800 to $14,000.
- Uninsured, with capsulectomy or complications: approximately $13,500 to $18,000+.
- Explant combined with a lift: budget above the top of that range.
Sydney sits at the higher end nationally, largely because of theatre and hospital costs, so the breast implant removal cost in Sydney often runs a few thousand dollars above regional figures for the same operation. If you’re weighing up a redo of previous surgery rather than a straight removal, breast revision surgery is priced differently again.
Consultation Fees: What You Pay Before Any Surgery
Almost every Sydney clinic charges for the initial consultation. Fees generally range from $200 to $400.
Ask three questions before you book:
- What’s the consultation fee, and is any part of it Medicare-rebatable with a GP referral?
- Is it refundable if you don’t proceed?
- Does it include imaging review, or is an MRI or ultrasound an extra cost?
Many clinics want an MRI or ultrasound report before your consultation to check for rupture, and that scan is usually billed separately.
Since 1 July 2023, the Medical Board of Australia’s cosmetic surgery guidelines have required practitioners to provide patients with detailed cost information. You’re entitled to all of it in writing.
Those same guidelines require a GP referral and a seven-day cooling-off period after your consultations before surgery is booked.
Working Out Your Own Number
Breast implant removal cost is a range of figures that varies depending on what’s inside your breast and what needs to come out alongside the implant.
Thinking about explant surgery and want a real number rather than a “from” price? At BB Clinic, Dr Michael Yunaev (FRACS) is a specialist breast and general surgeon with more than 22 years in breast surgery, and every explant quote we issue itemises the surgeon, anaesthetist, theatre and assistant fees so you can see exactly what you’re paying for.
Call (02) 9819 7449 to arrange a consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
All surgery carries risks and outcomes vary between individuals. This article is general information, not medical advice. Medicare eligibility is assessed by Services Australia against the criteria current at the time of your procedure.
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