Australia regulates health advertising more tightly than almost any market a practice owner will encounter — and the reasons are good ones. The rules exist to stop patients being misled into unnecessary or unsafe care. For a GP practice, dental clinic, physiotherapy group or any registered practitioner, getting advertising wrong isn't a grey area you can quietly test; AHPRA actively monitors advertising, runs compliance campaigns, and can act on breaches.
The encouraging part: the ethical, education-first way to grow a practice sits comfortably inside these rules. It's the hype, the discounts and the "amazing results" testimonials that get clinics into trouble — and those were never the durable way to build a practice anyway.
At a glance — the framework
- Who regulates
- Ahpra (Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency) with the 15 National Boards — e.g. the Medical Board of Australia, Dental Board, etc.
- The law
- Section 133 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, which applies in each state and territory.
- The guidance
- "Guidelines for advertising a regulated health service" (Ahpra & the National Boards), plus specific guidance for cosmetic procedures.
- Who it covers
- Anyone who advertises a regulated health service — practitioners, practice owners, and often the businesses and third parties advertising on their behalf.
- Where it applies
- Everywhere you advertise: website, Google, social media, influencer content, signage, print.
The five things advertising must never do
Section 133 and the guidelines set out clear prohibitions. In plain terms, advertising of a regulated health service must not do any of the following:
Prohibited under Section 133
- Be false, misleading or deceptive — or likely to be. This is the big one, and it covers implied claims, not just explicit ones.
- Offer a gift, discount or inducement without clearly stating the terms and conditions of the offer.
- Use testimonials about the clinical aspects of the service — in any advertising you control (see below).
- Create an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment — "guaranteed", "painless", "permanent", miracle-result language.
- Encourage unnecessary or indiscriminate use of a health service — directly or indirectly.
The testimonials ban — the rule that catches everyone
This is where Australia differs sharply from markets like India or the UAE, where collecting and showing reviews is a core growth tactic. In Australia, you cannot use testimonials that relate to the clinical aspects of a regulated health service in advertising you control — your website, your social posts, anywhere you can moderate the content. A glowing patient quote about how a treatment changed their life is, in AHPRA's eyes, prohibited advertising.
There's an important nuance: AHPRA's position is that practitioners are generally not responsible for unsolicited reviews on platforms they don't control, such as Google reviews a patient leaves of their own accord. But you must not solicit clinical testimonials, must not re-use them in your own advertising, and shouldn't encourage them. So the ethical review strategy that works everywhere else needs rethinking here: in Australia you build reputation through information and demonstrated expertise, not through curated patient praise. When in doubt, leave the testimonial out.
What you can still do — and should
- Factual information — your services, qualifications, registration, location, hours, fees and languages.
- Patient education — explaining conditions, procedures, recovery and aftercare in accurate, balanced terms.
- A complete, accurate Google Business Profile — the main way Australian patients find local care.
- Protected titles you're entitled to — use specialist and professional titles correctly, never ones you don't hold.
- Clear, honest fees and offers — with full terms and conditions stated.
- Responsiveness and great service — fast, helpful replies to enquiries are not advertising claims; they're just good practice.
Cosmetic procedures: a stricter rulebook again
If your practice offers cosmetic surgery or non-surgical cosmetic procedures, you're under an additional, tighter layer of AHPRA guidance introduced to curb aggressive and unsafe promotion. Expect stricter rules on using images, on trivialising procedures, on targeting younger people and body image, on sexualised or idealised imagery, and on influencers and social media. If you're in this space, treat every post as something AHPRA may review, and err well on the side of caution.
Social media and third parties are not a loophole
A common and costly misunderstanding: that social media, influencer collaborations or an agency's posts sit outside the rules. They don't. AHPRA treats them as advertising of a regulated health service, and responsibility generally rests with the practitioner or practice — even when someone else created the content. If you engage a marketing agency or an influencer, you are responsible for ensuring what they publish about your service is compliant. Brief them on Section 133 before, not after.
Penalties — and why compliance is cheaper than the alternative
Breaching the advertising provisions is an offence under the National Law and can lead to financial penalties (higher for companies than individuals), as well as regulatory and disciplinary action that can affect registration. The exact penalty amounts are set by legislation and are periodically updated, so check the current figures — but the bigger cost is usually reputational and the distraction of a regulatory process. Building a practice the compliant way avoids all of it.
The ethical way to grow a practice in Australia
Strip away what you can't do, and what's left is a remarkably clean growth model — the one we teach. Be genuinely findable through an accurate Google Business Profile and website. Be the clearest, most helpful educator in your area, answering the questions patients actually ask, because education is firmly allowed where testimonials are not. Be responsive and run a practice people want to return to and refer others to — word of mouth between real people isn't advertising and isn't restricted. In a market this tightly regulated, the honest practice doesn't just stay compliant; it stands out. That's the system in our guide to getting more patients ethically, adapted to Australia's rules.
Before you publish — a quick compliance check
- Is every claim accurate, balanced and free of "guaranteed / painless / permanent / miracle" language?
- Have we removed any patient testimonial about treatment or outcomes from content we control?
- Are we not soliciting or re-using clinical testimonials anywhere in our own advertising?
- If there's an offer or discount, are the full terms and conditions clearly stated?
- Are we only using professional and specialist titles we're actually entitled to?
- Does nothing here encourage unnecessary or indiscriminate use of a health service?
- For cosmetic services, have we applied AHPRA's additional cosmetic advertising rules?
- Have we briefed any agency or influencer on these rules before they post?
Nishu Sharma is a healthcare growth coach and founder of the Ethical Healthcare Community, creator of the Patient-First Growth Framework. Her mission: help 100,000+ doctors, clinic owners and hospital owners grow with ethics and AI, so patients get their trust back in healthcare. Read her full story →