--- title: "Ahpra Advertising Guidelines and the TGA Code | Aemorph" url: https://aemorph.com/en-au/guides/ahpra-tga-advertising-rules/ description: "Ahpra advertising guidelines and the TGA Advertising Code explained for Australian health advertisers: testimonials, cosmetic procedures, medicines, AI copy." schema_type: Article publisher: Aemorph publisher_entity: https://aemorph.com/entitymap.json#org_aemorph language: en-AU updated: 2026-10-25 --- Guides # Ahpra Advertising Guidelines and the TGA Advertising Code: Health Advertising Rules in Australia **Australian health advertising answers to two sets of rules: section 133 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, explained in Ahpra's advertising guidelines, for anyone who advertises a regulated health service, and, where advertising promotes medicines or medical devices, the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989, with the TGA's Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code setting the requirements for advertising those goods to the public.** Section 133 bans false or misleading claims, offers without stated terms, testimonials, unreasonable expectations of benefit and encouragement of unnecessary treatment. The TGA keeps prescription medicines out of advertising to the public, including the brand names, nicknames and hashtags that point to them. Separate Ahpra guidelines for advertising higher-risk non-surgical cosmetic procedures are in effect from 2 September 2025. [Book a strategic conversation](https://aemorph.com/en-au/contact/) Written by [Kevin Dam](https://aemorph.com/en-au/about/), founder of Aemorph, who has practised SEO since 2010 and sits on the [Forbes Agency Council](https://councils.forbes.com/profile/Kevin-Dam-Global-Search-Architect-%7C-SEO-GEO-AEO-IMO-LLM-Visibility-Aemorph/4c8c7a38-1285-470d-8ea8-e517a310a00b). Aemorph is a [Google Partner](https://www.google.com/partners/agency?id=4441861842). [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevindam) --- ## What Ahpra's Advertising Rules and the TGA Code Cover, and Who They Apply To **The rules apply to whoever advertises: a registered practitioner, an unregistered individual, or a business, partnership or corporate entity that promotes a regulated health service, plus any advertiser whose content promotes a therapeutic good.** Ahpra works with 15 National Boards to administer the National Law, as in force in each state and territory. The National Boards developed the [Guidelines for advertising a regulated health service](https://www.ahpra.gov.au/Resources/Advertising-hub/Advertising-guidelines-and-other-guidance/Advertising-guidelines.aspx) jointly under section 39 of the National Law, and the revised guidelines took effect on 14 December 2020. A regulated health service is a service provided, or usually provided, by a registered health practitioner. In the guidelines, advertising covers every verbal, printed and electronic communication that promotes a regulated health service provider or seeks to attract a person to the service, social media included. ### What does section 133 of the National Law prohibit? **Section 133 prohibits advertising a regulated health service, or a business that provides one, in five ways.** The advertising is unlawful when it: - is false, misleading or deceptive, or likely to mislead or deceive - offers a gift, discount or other inducement without stating the terms and conditions of the offer - uses testimonials or purported testimonials about the service or business - creates an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment - directly or indirectly encourages the indiscriminate or unnecessary use of regulated health services. Ahpra states that a court or tribunal hearing an offence under section 133 has the option to consider the guidelines, because they are established under the National Law. ### Who counts as the advertiser? **The advertiser is whoever controls the advertising, and that includes a business that directs a staff member, a third party or a marketing agency to draft or publish content.** Ahpra's guidelines also treat a business as in control when it has a way to change or remove content an unrelated publisher has posted. Advertisers are responsible for their own advertising, so the guidelines expect them to check content others produce on their behalf. For a hospital or medical group working with an agency, the obligation stays with the group. ### What penalties apply to advertising offences? **A breach of an advertising requirement under the National Law is a criminal offence, and since a 2022 amendment the maximum penalty is A$60,000 per offence for an individual and A$120,000 per offence for a body corporate.** The previous maximums were A$5,000 and A$10,000. Ahpra states that from July 2024 the increased penalties apply in all jurisdictions, Western Australia included. Current and former registered practitioners also risk disciplinary action, and Ahpra's enforcement tools include conditions on registration that restrict a practitioner's advertising. ### Where does the TGA Advertising Code fit? **The TGA regulates advertising for therapeutic goods such as medicines and medical devices, and its rules reach a health service's advertising as soon as that advertising promotes a therapeutic good.** The [Therapeutic Goods (Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code) Instrument 2021](https://www.tga.gov.au/products/regulations-all-products/advertising/applying-advertising-code), the Code, came into effect on 1 January 2022 as a legal instrument under the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989. The Code applies to therapeutic goods advertised to the public, and it requires that advertising to promote the safe and proper use of therapeutic goods, to avoid misleading consumers or creating unrealistic expectations about product performance, to support informed health care choices and to stay consistent with current public health campaigns. The TGA does not regulate the promotion of health services themselves. Prescription medicines and biologicals, human cell and tissue products included, are not advertised to the public, outside references an Australian government authority authorises or requires. The Australian Consumer Law, administered by the ACCC, applies as well; see the [ACCC and Australian Consumer Law guide](https://aemorph.com/en-au/guides/accc-australian-consumer-law-marketing/). ### What changed for cosmetic procedures on 2 September 2025? **Ahpra's [Guidelines for advertising higher risk non-surgical cosmetic procedures](https://www.ahpra.gov.au/Resources/Cosmetic-surgery-hub/Cosmetic-procedure-advertising-guidelines.aspx) are in effect from 2 September 2025 and add specific rules for procedures such as cosmetic injectables, dermal fillers, thread lifts and dental veneers.** The guidelines apply to anyone who advertises these procedures when a registered health practitioner performs them. They sit on top of the broader advertising guidelines, and where the two differ, the most specific guidance applies. They ban advertising that exploits people's vulnerabilities or insecurities or drives demand from people with conditions such as body dysmorphic disorder. They state that advertising of these procedures uses no testimonials, make advertisers who engage influencers, ambassadors or content creators responsible for the content those individuals deliver, and require advertising that references a specific individual as performing these procedures to include that practitioner's registration details, including the registration number. Cosmetic surgery follows the Medical Board of Australia's separate guidelines for medical practitioners who advertise cosmetic surgery. *General guidance, not legal advice.* --- ## What the Rules Mean for Your Marketing and SEO Copy **Every page, profile, post and ad that promotes your service counts as advertising, so service pages, meta descriptions, review widgets, image galleries and hashtags all carry the rules.** The table lists common claim types in health search copy to the rule behind each one. | Claim type | What the rule says | What to check | Source | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Treatment effectiveness | Claims about effectiveness need acceptable evidence, mostly peer-reviewed research; unqualified lists of conditions a service "treats" or "assists with" mislead | Each outcome claim rests on acceptable evidence that matches the claim's strength and the patients it describes, and condition lists carry qualifications | Ahpra advertising guidelines, 4.1 | | Patient reviews and testimonials | Section 133 bans testimonials, meaning positive statements about the clinical aspects of a service (symptom, diagnosis or treatment, outcome), in advertising | Review widgets on your site and business social profiles, quotes inside patient stories | Ahpra advertising guidelines, 4.3 | | "Safe", "pain-free", "guaranteed" | Words such as "safe", "effective", "risk-free" and "pain-free", used without acknowledging possible adverse reactions, create an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment | Headlines, meta descriptions, ad copy and question-and-answer blocks | Ahpra advertising guidelines, 4.4 | | Offers, discounts and "free" | An inducement states its terms and conditions in plain language; the public read "free" as absolutely free | Every offer shows its terms beside it or links straight to them | Ahpra advertising guidelines, 4.2 | | Urgency | Phrases such as "don't delay" or "for a limited time only" are unlawful where they link to unsupported claims that health suffers without treatment | Calls to action on service and landing pages | Ahpra advertising guidelines, 4.5 | | Titles and "specialises" | Implying specialist registration, qualifications or an endorsement a practitioner does not hold misleads | Practitioner bios, author boxes and "our team" pages | Ahpra advertising guidelines, 4.1 | | Before-and-after images | Higher-risk cosmetic images are genuine, unedited, matched in lighting and angle, lead with the "before" or a combined image, and carry a prominent warning | Galleries, social posts and paid social creative | Ahpra cosmetic procedure advertising guidelines | | The medicine behind a treatment | Health service advertising makes no direct or indirect reference to prescription medicines, including brand names, abbreviations, nicknames and hashtags | Page titles, headings, image captions and hashtags | TGA, Advertising health services that involve therapeutic goods | | Testimonials about therapeutic goods | Paid or incentivised testimonials are banned, and hospitals, healthcare facilities and health practitioners give no testimonials or endorsements | Product reviews and influencer posts | TGA, Testimonials and endorsements in advertising | *Sources: Ahpra, Guidelines for advertising a regulated health service; Ahpra, Guidelines for advertising higher risk non-surgical cosmetic procedures, 2 September 2025; TGA, Advertising health services that involve therapeutic goods, updated 18 June 2026; TGA, Testimonials and endorsements in advertising. All checked 24 October 2026.* ### Are patient reviews and testimonials allowed on a health website? **Testimonials about the clinical side of a regulated health service are banned from your advertising, while reviews about customer service, and reviews patients post on platforms you do not control, sit outside that ban.** Ahpra treats a review as a testimonial when it makes a positive statement about the clinical aspects of a regulated health service: the symptom or reason for seeking treatment, the diagnosis or treatment, or the outcome, including the practitioner's clinical skill. Whoever controls the website or business social media account is responsible for compliance there, and disabling the review function is one way to meet that responsibility. For therapeutic goods, the TGA Code adds [its own limits](https://www.tga.gov.au/products/regulations-all-products/advertising/applying-advertising-code/testimonials-and-endorsements-advertising): testimonials given in exchange for payment or any other valuable consideration are banned, brand ambassadors and social media influencers included, and advertisements carry no testimonials or endorsements from hospitals, healthcare facilities or current or former health practitioners. ### How do before-and-after images fit the rules? **For higher-risk cosmetic procedures, Ahpra's requirements for before-and-after images are that both images are genuine photos of the advertising practitioner's own patient, matched in lighting, angle and framing, free of editing and filters, with the "before" or a combined image shown first.** Every image intended to show an outcome also carries a prominent warning that the result applies to that patient and does not necessarily reflect the results other patients experience. Where the procedure involves a prescription-only medicine, the TGA's guidance on influencer and creator content treats material that implies the medicine's effect, before-and-after images included, as likely prohibited advertising. ### Does naming the medicine behind a treatment break the TGA rules? **Yes, when the medicine is a prescription medicine: a health service's advertising stays clear of any direct or indirect reference to it, including brand names, acronyms, nicknames and hashtags.** The TGA's guidance on [advertising health services that involve therapeutic goods](https://www.tga.gov.au/resources/guidance/advertising-health-services-involve-therapeutic-goods) lists substitute terms such as "wrinkle reducing injections" and "weight loss injections" as references to prescription medicines, and gives an advertisement for "dermal filler treatments" as a non-compliant example. Promoting the type of consultation a service offers, or the conditions it treats, without referring to therapeutic goods is unlikely to count as advertising those goods. Promoting a telehealth service as a way to obtain a particular prescription medicine is likely to be prohibited advertising. *General guidance, not legal advice.* --- ## What the Rules Mean for AI Answers and AI-Generated Content **The rules attach to the advertiser and the advertising, so copy drafted with an AI tool carries the same obligations as copy written by your team or your agency once your business publishes it.** Ahpra's guidelines define the advertiser by control: whoever publishes or authorises the content, or directs someone else to draft it. The TGA takes the same line on testimonials and endorsements. Once one appears on, or is linked from, your content, it becomes part of your advertising, even when you did not write it or do not agree with it, and linked material, international websites included, counts as part of the advertisement. ### Is copy drafted with an AI tool held to a different standard? **No: AI-drafted copy meets the same tests as any other draft, because Ahpra's guidelines define the advertiser by who controls the content and expect the advertiser to check content produced on its behalf.** The practical checks stay the same. Words such as "safe", "effective", "risk-free" and "pain-free", used without acknowledging possible adverse reactions, appear in Ahpra's examples of unreasonable expectations, so they belong on the checklist for every draft, whoever or whatever wrote it. ### What do AI assistants repeat about a hospital or medical group? **In Aemorph's working model, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity describe a hospital or medical group from the public sources they find, your own pages and profiles among them, so an unsupported claim on your site becomes material for their answers.** The fix sits at the source, on the pages and profiles you control. The free [Hallucination Report](https://tools.aemorph.com/hallucination) compares what the AI engines say about your business with what your website currently says, and flags where they conflict. *General guidance, not legal advice.* --- ## How Aemorph Checks Health Claims Before Publication **Aemorph checks every health claim it writes against PubMed, professional associations and government health authorities, and your nominated point of contact signs off every regulated claim before Aemorph publishes it.** Aemorph is not a law firm. It does not review your copy against Ahpra's guidelines, the National Law or the TGA Code, and it does not confirm that any advertisement complies: as the advertiser, your business holds those obligations. Ahpra and the National Boards also give no advice on whether specific advertising complies and approve no advertising; Ahpra directs advertisers to their own legal adviser or indemnity insurer. | Check | Applies to | Standard | Checked against | When | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Medical and health claims | Hospitals and healthcare providers | Conservative wording, no exaggerated promises | PubMed, professional associations, government health authorities | Before publication | | Testimonials and before-and-after material | Every healthcare client | Used only where the law permits | Your point of contact's sign-off | Before publication | | Every regulated claim | Every healthcare client | Approved by the person your business nominates | Your point of contact's sign-off | Before Aemorph publishes | *Source: Aemorph compliance practice, October 2026.* ### Who signs off the claims on your pages? **You decide who signs off: the business owner, the chief marketing officer or the risk team.** Aemorph publishes a regulated claim only after that person approves it, and the facts in your verified record are the facts your business supplies and approves. Inside the [Showstopper Sensor (Sprint 1)](https://aemorph.com/en-au/services/30-day-showstopper-sensor-sprint/), a 30-day showstopper-answer sprint for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, the same sign-off covers the showstopper answers before they go live. *General guidance, not legal advice.* --- ## Hospitals and Medical Groups: Start With a Free Strategic Conversation **Hospitals and medical groups that want search and AI visibility built on claims their own reviewers have approved start with a free strategic conversation with Aemorph.** Aemorph is headquartered in Singapore, serves Australian clients remotely in Australian business hours and replies to every message within 24 hours. The [hospitals and medical groups page](https://aemorph.com/en-au/industries/hospitals-and-medical-groups/) sets out how Aemorph runs SEO, AEO and GEO for healthcare organisations, with Eye Concepts and Smile Team as Australian healthcare references. [Book a strategic conversation](https://aemorph.com/en-au/contact/) **Disclaimer:** This article reflects Aemorph's reading and understanding of the laws, regulations and official guidance cited, based on the sources and review dates stated. It provides general information, not legal advice, and does not assess compliance for your specific circumstances. THE STRATEGIC CONVERSATION ## Start with a free *strategic conversation*. Every Aemorph engagement starts with a free strategic conversation. It is the fastest way to see whether Aemorph fits your business before you commit budget. [Book a strategic conversation →](https://aemorph.com/en-au/contact/) STARTING POINT Free You talk through your goals with Aemorph, and Aemorph quotes your engagement after the conversation.