The TGA Advertising Code in 2026: What Your Brand Can and Cannot Say

The TGA advertising code is the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code 2021. It sets the rules for how you can advertise health products to the public in Australia. That covers medicines, medical devices and supplements. You cannot advertise prescription-only medicines to the public at all. For products you can advertise, the code bans some claims and asks for certain warnings. It also stops you mentioning serious diseases without approval. You can still advertise a health service, as long as the ad does not name or hint at a prescription medicine. Whoever runs the ad is liable, and that includes the agency or writer.

What is the TGA advertising code?

The TGA advertising code is the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code 2021. It is the rulebook for how you can advertise health products to the public in Australia. It sits under the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) runs it.

The code does three main jobs. It controls what you can claim about a product. It makes you add certain warnings to some ads. And it bans some mentions outright, like claims to treat serious diseases without approval.

This next part trips a lot of brands up. The code covers much more than a TV ad. The TGA says an ad is anything that promotes the use or supply of a health product. That includes your website, blog posts, social media and emails. It even includes a product name or the short summary Google shows for your page. Saying "it was just educational" does not get you off the hook. My guide on what your clinic can post under the TGA on social media covers the social rules in full, including comments and tagged posts.

Which products does the code cover?

The code applies to health products. That is a wide group, so it helps to sort them by what you are allowed to say.

• Prescription medicines (Schedule 4 and Schedule 8). You cannot advertise these to the public at all. This is the strictest rule in the system.
• Pharmacist-only and pharmacy medicines (Schedule 3 and Schedule 2). You can only advertise these in limited ways. Only some products and claims are allowed, and the rules are tight.
• Over-the-counter medicines and supplements on the TGA's register. You can advertise these to the public. But every claim has to follow the code, and some need warnings.
• Medical devices. You can advertise many of these to the public, again only within the code. Your claims still have to be true, fair and backed by evidence.

The way you describe a product can change which rules apply. A supplement is fine to advertise. But once you claim it cures a serious disease, you have made a claim you are not allowed to make.

What can you advertise to the public?

The code limits your claims, but you can still market. You can build a clear page that brings in enquiries. Here is what stays on the safe side.

• A health service or consultation. You can say your clinic offers appointments to talk through options. You can say who runs them and what happens at the visit. A service is not a health product, so the product rules do not apply. Just do not name or hint at a prescription medicine.
• Products you are allowed to advertise. For a listed supplement or a device, you can make a true claim, backed by evidence, that matches what the product is approved for.
• Plain practice details. You can share your location, hours, qualifications and how to book.
• The required warnings. For some medicines, the code makes you add lines like "Always read the label and follow the directions for use".

You cannot promise a result or use a testimonial about clinical care. You cannot use big claims like "best" or "leading". And you cannot push the public toward a prescription product. Those are the lines that turn a normal ad into a breach.

What are restricted and prohibited representations?

Most brands have never heard of these, and this is where the serious breaches happen.

A restricted representation is a mention of a serious disease, condition or illness. Think cancer, heart disease or diabetes. You cannot use one in an ad to the public unless the TGA approves it first. Most brands do not have that approval, so the safe rule is simple. Do not claim to treat, cure or prevent a serious condition.

A prohibited representation is banned outright. You cannot use it, even with approval. The law sets these out. They cover a short list of mentions that are never allowed in public ads.

There is also a general ban on certain claims. You cannot mislead people or raise false hopes. You also cannot push someone to use a product when they should see a health professional. If a claim makes your reader feel they have a serious problem that only your product can fix, it is heading for trouble.

Say this, not that: five TGA rewrites

Here are five lines that break the code. Each one has a safe version. Every "say this" line is written to the full standard. So it works for the TGA and, where a service is involved, for AHPRA too.

How does the TGA code sit alongside AHPRA?

This is the bit that confuses almost everyone, so here is the simple version.

The TGA advertising code covers the products. That means the medicine, the device or the supplement. It controls what you can say about the product itself.

The AHPRA advertising guidelines cover the service and the practitioner. They come from the National Law, the law behind AHPRA's ad rules. They control testimonials, claims about care, and how you promote a registered health professional.

Your clinic ad usually sits under both at once. Take a cosmetic injectable page. The TGA decides if you can name the product. You cannot, because it is a prescription medicine. AHPRA decides if you can share patient testimonials, and you cannot do that either. You have to pass both sets of rules, every time. My post on whether you can advertise Botox in Australia walks through one product under both sets of rules in detail.

What happens if you get it wrong?

Breaking the code is a real risk. The TGA can send warnings and fines, and it can take you to court. Penalties for ad offences are large and can run into the millions for serious or repeated breaches.

The key detail for marketers is who is liable. Whoever runs the ad is responsible, and the law reads that widely. It includes the agency and the copywriter who wrote the page, as well as the business that sells the product. If you write or approve the copy, you share the risk with your client.

For a registered practitioner, there is a second risk. A breach can also lead to a complaint to AHPRA, which can affect their registration. So one risky line can cause two separate problems at once.

You do not need to write less. You need to write to the rules from the first draft. Then your content can rank and bring in bookings without putting your client or yourself at risk.

Here are the TGA rules, product by product:

• Advertising Prescription Medicines in Australia: The Rule Everyone Breaks
• Can You Advertise Weight-Loss Medication in Australia? The TGA Rules
• TGA Advertising Rules for Supplements: What You Can and Cannot Claim in 2026
• Weight-Loss Clinics Are Spending Big on Marketing. The TGA Is Pulling the Ads.
• Medicinal Cannabis Advertising Under the TGA: What Is Actually Allowed
• Telehealth Marketing in Australia: The Two Promises That Get Clinics Fined