Advertising health services

• The Health practitioner regulation national law (see section 133), enforced by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra)
• Therapeutic goods act 1989 (Cth), enforced by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)
• Competition and consumer act 2010 (Cth), enforced by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)

• False, misleading or deceptive advertising, including:
  • Making scientific claims without providing evidence
  • Comparing services in a biased or incorrect way
  • False claims about, and incorrect use of, qualifications or recognised specialist titles
• Gifts, discounts or inducements without terms and conditions
• Testimonials
• Creating unreasonable expectations of beneficial treatment
• Encouraging indiscriminate or unnecessary use of regulated health services
• Naming prescription medicines

 For cosmetics advertising:

• Terms such as ‘world renowned’, safe’, 'painless’, 'happier you’ or ‘restore self-esteem’
• Airbrushing or editing of images
• Targeting vulnerable patients or under-18s
• Direct or indirect references to prescription medicines

Note that cosmetics advertising must include specified information about practitioner registration, risks, recovery times, and warnings.

If you use social media to advertise your health services:

• All the usual advertising laws apply
• Any comments left on social media pages in your control that are personal statements of support (testimonials) about clinical aspects must be removed. You’re not responsible for testimonials posted on a website or in social media that you don’t control, but don’t share or re-post clinical testimonials posted on a third-party website
• Be mindful not to breach a patient’s privacy
• Communicate professionally and respectfully
• Don’t contradict public health messaging or the codes, guidelines and standards of the medical profession
• Ensure claims are backed up by the best available scientific evidence

Cosmetic practitioners must not offer discounted procedures to social media influencers, and if they enter into an agreement with an influencer the practitioner must ensure the influencer’s content complies with Ahpra and TGA guidelines.

Generally, it’s best not to respond. 

Your response is constrained by patient confidentiality and your professional reputation, and we recommend any response is neutral and limited to asking the patient to contact the practice to resolve their concerns. 

You may be able to ask the site to remove the review, based on their current terms of service.

You can only send direct marketing to patients who have consented to receiving it.

Any direct marketing must provide a simple way for the recipient to opt out from similar future communication.

You can only call yourself a “specialist” if you hold specialist registration in a recognised specialty in accordance with the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law. 

If you don’t hold specialist registration, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) considers phrases such as “specialises in” as likely to mislead the public. So use less misleading wording, e.g. “substantial experience working in”. 

Only medical practitioners holding specialist registration in surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, or ophthalmology can call themselves ‘surgeon’.

X  Statements about clinical aspects, e.g. symptoms, diagnosis, treatment or outcomes

✓ Statements about nonclinical aspects, e.g. “helpful receptionists” or “easy parking”

You are considered responsible for testimonials on websites you control, e.g. your practice website or Facebook page. Many practices disable the Reviews tab on their Facebook page. You’re not responsible for comments left on third party sites which you do not control, e.g. doctor rating sites. 

Selective editing of reviews may be false, misleading or deceptive.