How AHPRA enforces the ad rules
AHPRA, the body behind the health ad rules, reports what it did with a year of complaints. Here is what it means for you.
First, a myth
AHPRA's enforcement plan started on 14 December 2020. It has not been rewritten. What changed is how AHPRA works, and its annual report shows it.
Where complaints go
In 2024/25, 419 were lower-risk complaints about registered practitioners. The other 356 were about companies, unregistered people or serious risk. Those went to the criminal offences team.
If you are registered
AHPRA writes to you, says what fell short and gives you a chance to fix it. Of those it contacted, 74% fixed their ads early and heard nothing more.
If you ignore the letter
Their ads stayed out of line, and 75 then fixed them. The boards put conditions on 8 registrations and cautioned 3.
Why companies take another path
The letter works because your registration is at stake. A company or an agency has none. So those complaints go to the criminal offences team, which can go to court.
The line to note
Its CEO says it has "trialled the use of artificial intelligence to scan social media and websites for advertising breaches". It does not have to wait for a complaint.
What to do
Fix the whole pattern, as well as the flagged page. Read your site the way a scan would.
Tap through for the full funnel, the profession table and the say-this-instead list