The practical guide to AHPRA-compliant marketing in Australia (2026)

Most practitioners don't set out to breach advertising law. They write a caption, share a patient's thank-you message, or run a new-patient offer, and assume someone would tell them if it crossed a line. Nobody does, until a complaint arrives. AHPRA assessed 775 advertising complaints in 2024/25, up 104% in two years. A large share of them concern exactly this kind of everyday content.

Getting it right is more than a legal question. It's commercial. A practice that knows where the lines are can publish confidently and quickly. A practice that doesn't either publishes and hopes, or stops publishing altogether. Both cost patients.

Section 133(1) of the National Law says a person must not advertise a regulated health service, or a business that provides one, in a way that:

1. (a) is false, misleading or deceptive, or is likely to be
2. (b) offers a gift, discount or other inducement, unless the advertisement also states the terms and conditions of the offer
3. (c) uses testimonials or purported testimonials about the service or business
4. (d) creates an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment
5. (e) directly or indirectly encourages the indiscriminate or unnecessary use of regulated health services

Two points catch people out. First, the obligation sits with anyone advertising a regulated health service, including unregistered staff, marketing agencies and companies that own clinics (Guidelines, Executive summary and s.3.2). Second, "advertising" is broad. It covers websites, social media posts and captions, Google Business profiles, email newsletters and paid ads, whenever the content promotes the service (Guidelines s.3.1).

Practical example: a physiotherapy clinic's Instagram post says "Back pain? We fix it in 3 sessions." That single line raises s.133(1)(a) (an unsubstantiated effectiveness claim), s.133(1)(d) (an unreasonable expectation of benefit), and possibly s.133(1)(e) (encouraging use by implying everyone with back pain needs treatment).

Section 133(1)(c) prohibits using testimonials or purported testimonials in advertising, such as patient stories, success stories or fake reviews (Guidelines s.4.3).

The Guidelines don't ban every positive comment. A testimonial is a positive statement about the clinical aspects of a regulated health service (s.4.3.1). A clinical aspect exists when the statement mentions:

• Symptom: the specific symptom or reason for seeking treatment
• Diagnosis or treatment: the specific diagnosis or treatment provided
• Outcome: the specific outcome, or the practitioner's skill or experience

"The reception team was lovely and parking was easy" has no clinical aspect and is not a testimonial. "Dr Lee fixed my migraines after one visit" names a symptom and an outcome, so it can't be used in advertising.

Patients can still post reviews on Google or independent review sites (s.4.3.2). The prohibition applies when you use those reviews to advertise. That means reposting them, embedding them on your website, quoting them in an ad, or pinning them to your profile.

Where the TGA applies as well: if a testimonial names or implies a specific therapeutic good, such as a supplement you sell in clinic, the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code 2021 s.24 also applies, on top of the AHPRA rules rather than instead of them. Most practitioner testimonials are about the service, so AHPRA is usually the primary framework. Unregistered practitioners, such as naturopaths, nutritionists and massage therapists, are governed by the relevant state or territory Code of Conduct for health workers.

→ Related: AHPRA testimonial rules for practitioners

Offers are permitted. Undisclosed terms are not. Section 133(1)(b) requires any gift, discount or inducement to state its terms and conditions in plain language (Guidelines s.4.2).

According to s.4.2, advertising may breach the National Law when it:

• has price information that is unclear, inexact or vague
• advertises "book one, get one free" but raises the price of the first consultation to cover the second
• leaves out restrictions such as age, expiry date, location or eligibility
• states an instalment amount without the total cost

The public reads "free" as absolutely free. If the cost is recovered elsewhere, including through Medicare, the offer isn't free. Where space is tight, as in a social post, the ad can link directly to the full terms, provided they are easy to find.

Practical example: "New patients: $49 initial consult" is compliant only if the post or a direct link states who qualifies, what the consult includes, the standard price, and when the offer ends.

→ Related: Can AHPRA-registered practitioners offer discounts or promotions?

Effectiveness claims must be supported by acceptable evidence (Guidelines s.4.1.1–4.1.2). Section 4.1 lists advertising that may be misleading, including advertising that:

• lists conditions a treatment can "assist with" or "treat" without qualification
• uses scientific information that is inaccurate, unbalanced or not clearly attributed
• minimises the risks of a treatment or procedure
• claims to provide a superior service

Images carry the same obligations as words. Section 4.4.1 of the Guidelines deals with images and photographs that may create an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment. Before-and-after images aren't banned outright, but they're assessed closely. That includes whether they are representative, unaltered and accompanied by the right context. Cosmetic procedures have their own, stricter advertising guidelines, which sit on top of s.133.

Practical example: an allied health clinic's service page lists "anxiety, insomnia, IBS, hormonal imbalance" under "conditions we treat". Without evidence for each condition and qualified wording, this is the kind of unqualified list s.4.1 flags.

→ Related: AHPRA's rules for before-and-after images · Advertising higher-risk non-surgical cosmetic procedures

Advertising must not suggest a practitioner holds registration, specialist registration, an endorsement or a qualification they don't have (Guidelines s.4.1.4). The risk areas are:

• "Specialist" or "specialising in" when the practitioner doesn't hold specialist registration (s.4.1.4.b–c)
• use of "Dr" without making clear the type of practitioner (s.4.1.4.g)
• protected titles combined with descriptive terms in a way that implies registration (s.4.1.4.f)

Unregistered practitioners carry a related risk. Wording that implies registration or a government-recognised qualification can be misleading under s.133(1)(a), and under the Australian Consumer Law s.18.

→ Related: Advertising regulations for unregistered health practitioners

Every health business is also bound by the Australian Consumer Law. Section 18 prohibits misleading or deceptive conduct, and the ACCC's Advertising and selling guide (2021) treats health claims as claims that need extra care. In practice, a claim that fails s.133(1)(a) will usually raise ACL concerns too. ACL compliance doesn't replace s.133, though. The testimonial and inducement rules have no ACL equivalent.

CompliGUARD reviews practitioner advertising, including captions, web pages, emails and ads, against s.133 of the National Law and AHPRA's advertising guidelines. It also checks the TGA Advertising Code 2021 where a product is named, the relevant state Code of Conduct for unregistered practitioners, and the Australian Consumer Law. Each review returns a low, medium or high risk assessment for every claim, the clause it relates to, a compliant rewrite that keeps your voice, and a timestamped audit record of what was checked and when. It is compliance infrastructure for the speed practices actually publish at. It doesn't replace legal advice.

CompliGUARD provides compliance and creative marketing insights based on TGA, FSANZ, ACCC and AHPRA guidance as current at the time of review. The Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code is currently under formal review by the TGA (2025–26). CompliGUARD assessments reflect the current Code; guidance may be subject to change. This output does not constitute legal advice.