AHPRA Advertising Guidelines in 2026: What Your Clinic Can and Cannot Say

Under the AHPRA advertising guidelines, your clinic must not use testimonials about clinical care. You must not claim or hint at a health outcome, compare yourself to other care, or show before-and-after photos. You can state facts about your service, your real qualifications, your fees and what a visit involves. The rules come from section 133 of the National Law. They apply to every word you publish, including your blog and FAQs.

What are the AHPRA advertising guidelines?

The AHPRA advertising guidelines are the rules for how you can advertise your health service in Australia. They cover you and the people who work for you. AHPRA and the National Boards write them. You can read them on the AHPRA advertising hub. The law behind them is section 133 of the National Law. In plain words, section 133 is the part of the law that says how health services may and may not be advertised.

Two things surprise most clinic owners.

First, AHPRA reads "advertising" very widely. Your paid ads count, and so does almost everything else. Your homepage, service pages, blog, FAQs, emails, social captions and booking page all count. If it promotes your service, it is advertising.

Second, a post that teaches still counts. A blog post that names a treatment and ends with a booking link is advertising, even if it reads like an article. A disclaimer at the bottom does not undo a risky claim higher up the page.

So these rules cover your whole website, and your ad agency is only part of the picture. That is why one careless sentence on a service page can turn into a complaint.

What can your clinic say?

You can say plenty. The rules limit claims. They don't stop you talking to patients. You can build a clear, trusted website inside the rules. Here is the safe list.

• Plain descriptions of your services. Say what the service is and what it involves. Say what a patient can expect at a visit.
• Your real qualifications and registration. Give your degrees, training and years of experience in everyday words.
• Clear, total fees. Say what something costs, and state any conditions.
• Health information backed by a good source. General information should be accurate and referenced. Don't frame it as a promise about your results.
• Practical details. Share your location, opening hours, languages spoken, access and how to book.
• Feedback about the visit itself. Comments about booking or reception are fine when they make no clinical claim.

None of this is risky. It also sells better than most clinics think. Clear facts build more trust than a five-star quote. Readers often think you wrote those quotes yourself.

What can your clinic not say?

This is the list that catches people. Each item is a common marketing habit that breaks the rules.

• Testimonials about clinical care. This covers patient quotes, star reviews you repost, case stories and influencer posts. It also covers feedback you put in your own words, such as "our patients tell us they feel better".
• Outcome claims. You can't say anything that makes people expect a benefit. "Pain-free", "faster recovery" and "guaranteed results" all fail.
• Comparisons and big claims. No one can prove words like "Best", "leading", "number one" or "better than". So you can't use them. "Specialist" is a protected title. You can only use it if you hold AHPRA specialist registration.
• Before-and-after images. They suggest an outcome. For cosmetic procedures, the rules are even stricter.
• Pushing people to book care they may not need. This means freebies, rush and deals that nudge someone to book.
• Naming prescription medicines to the public. You must not advertise specific prescription-only medicines to the public. Promote the consultation and leave the medicine out.
• Talking down standard care. Lines like "Skip the GP" or "where standard care fails you" are not allowed.

Notice the pattern. The praise is rarely the problem. The problem is the claim hiding inside an ordinary sentence.

Say this, not that: six compliant rewrites

This is the part you can use straight away. Here are 6 sentences that break the rules. Each one has a safe version that says almost the same thing. Every "say this" line below is written to the full standard.

1. The testimonial

Not this: "I was so nervous, but the team made me feel amazing. Best clinic I've ever been to."

Say this: "Here is what to expect at your first appointment, step by step." It describes the visit without using a patient's words to sell.

2. The outcome claim

Not this: "We get you back to work pain-free, fast."

Say this: "We assess your condition and talk through the options that may suit you." It describes your service. It makes no promise about the result or how fast it comes.

3. The superlative

Not this: "Sydney's leading skin specialists."

Say this: "A Sydney clinic offering skin health consultations." Only use the word specialist if your practitioner holds AHPRA specialist registration.

4. The comparison

Not this: "A faster alternative to waiting for your GP."

Say this: "We work alongside your GP and your treating team." It shows you as part of the patient's care, working with their other carers.

5. The before-and-after

Not this: a results gallery captioned "real patient outcomes".

Say this: "During your consultation we explain how the procedure works and what it involves." It informs the reader and doesn't hint at a sure result.

6. The prescription medicine

Not this: "Ask us about the well-known injectable everyone is talking about."

Say this: "Book a consultation to discuss whether treatment is appropriate for you." A prescription may come out of a visit if it is medically right. You advertise the visit, and the medicine stays out of the ad.

Which AHPRA rules apply to your type of clinic?

The core rules are the same for everyone. The traps are not. Each field has its own habits. A claim that gets one type of clinic reported may barely show up in another. A cosmetic clinic's risk is price ads and before-and-after galleries. A psychology practice's risk is a single client quote. A dental practice's risk is "painless" and "best".

Here is how one rule lands in 3 fields. Take the rule against outcome claims. A cosmetic clinic breaks it with a before-and-after gallery captioned "real results". A psychology practice breaks it with one line like "clients leave feeling calmer". A dental practice breaks it with the word "painless". It is one rule with 3 very different traps. So the guide for your field helps most once you start to edit real pages.

So once you know the general rules, read the guide for your field. These companion guides go deeper on each one.

• AHPRA advertising guidelines for cosmetic clinics, with the extra Medical Board rules, the bans on price offers, and naming injectables.
• AHPRA advertising guidelines for dental practices, with the claims dentists make most often and how to fix them.
• AHPRA advertising guidelines for psychologists, with the testimonial ban and how to build trust without client stories.
• Patient testimonials and AHPRA, with why the review on your own site is the one that catches people.
• Before-and-after photos under AHPRA, with the consent and consistency rules clinics break.
• Can you advertise Botox in Australia?, the TGA rule on why you can't name prescription injectables to the public.

Here are the rules by profession, for every other registered field:

• AHPRA Advertising for Physiotherapists: What Gets Flagged and What Gets Patients
• NDIS Providers and AHPRA: Where the Advertising Line Falls
• AHPRA Advertising for Naturopaths: Where Complementary Medicine Gets Flagged
• AHPRA Advertising for Nurses and Midwives: The Rules Most Practices Overlook
• AHPRA Advertising for Chiropractors: 7 Claims That Get a Warning Letter
• AHPRA Advertising for Osteopaths: The Scope Trap
• AHPRA Advertising for Podiatrists: Claims and Titles That Cross the Line
• AHPRA Advertising for Pharmacists: Where Retail and Regulation Collide
• AHPRA Chinese Medicine Advertising: The Two-Regulator Trap
• AHPRA Occupational Therapy Advertising: 82 Sites Checked
• AHPRA Advertising Rules for Dietitians and Nutritionists: Which Ones Actually Apply
• AHPRA Advertising for GPs: The 5 Website Mistakes Every Second Practice Makes
• AHPRA Advertising Rules for Optometrists: The Myopia Claim That Needs a TGA Permission

Whatever your field, the test underneath is the same. Ask yourself if you are describing the service or promising a result.

How do you check your own website for AHPRA risk?

You can do a first check yourself this week. Open every page. Include your blog, your FAQs and your social profiles. For each piece of copy, ask 3 questions.

• Does this hint at an outcome? If a sentence suggests a result is likely, it is a claim.
• Does this use a patient's words or story? If it does, and it touches clinical care, it is a testimonial.
• Is every word about your qualifications exactly true? "Specialist", "expert" and "leading" are the usual traps.

Let's test one real-looking sentence. Take this homepage line: "Our caring team gets you back to full health, fast." Now ask the 3 questions. Does it hint at an outcome? Yes, because "back to full health" promises a result. Does it use a patient's words? No. Is every qualification word true? "Caring" is a claim, and you can't prove it as a fact. So 2 of the 3 flags fire, and the sentence needs a rewrite.

A safe version just says what you do: "Our team assesses your condition and talks through the options that may suit you." It says what you do, and it promises nothing. Start with your homepage hero, your top service page and your most-shared social post. Those 3 pages carry the most risk because they get the most views.

If the answer to any of the questions is yes or maybe, the copy needs a rewrite before it stays live.

This is general guidance for marketers and clinic owners. It is not legal advice. AHPRA updates its guidelines from time to time. Check the current version on the AHPRA website, and get formal advice for high-stakes pages.