AHPRA advertising complaints
Someone reported your clinic's advertising. AHPRA says most cases start with a letter and a month to fix it.
Where it lands
Unlawful health advertising is a criminal offence, not a conduct issue, so it never touches the notifications process. AHPRA adds that low and medium risk breaches may be handled administratively rather than through a court.
What AHPRA does
It checks the advertising, identifies who the advertiser is, then runs a risk assessment that takes account of previous complaints and any history of non-compliance. Most cases then start with a letter requiring correction within 30 days.
The line nobody quotes
AHPRA's enforcement strategy says the person or entity who controls part or all of the advertising is the advertiser. It adds that advertisers must check any content developed by others on their behalf. One homepage can have three advertisers.
Section 133(2)
The National Law says a person does not commit the offence merely because they print or publish an advertisement for another person as part of their business. An agency handed finished copy sits inside that carve-out. An agency that wrote the claim does not.
Two different escalations
If a registered practitioner does not correct the advertising, AHPRA may propose conditions on their registration. If the advertiser is not registered, AHPRA says it may prosecute. A marketing company has no registration to condition.
The real numbers
Those are the current maximums per offence in section 133, Queensland consolidation, current as at 10 April 2026. Western Australia did not adopt the increase. AHPRA's own strategy still prints the pre-2022 figures of $5,000 and $10,000, because it has not been rewritten since December 2020.
What turns a letter into conditions
Sweep the flagged wording everywhere it appears, write down the fix and the date, and change who approves copy before it goes live. Most escalations are a second complaint, not a worse first one.
Tap below for the full breakdown.