Ahpra Advertising Rules for Websites, Page by Page

Ahpra works with 15 National Boards to regulate 16 health professions, among them medical practitioners, dentists, nurses, physiotherapists, psychologists, chiropractors, osteopaths, podiatrists, optometrists, pharmacists and occupational therapists. Section 133 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law says a person must not advertise a regulated health service, or a business that provides one, in certain ways. A regulated health service is one provided by, or usually provided by, a health practitioner as the National Law defines it.

Two details catch people out. First, the rules aren't limited to registered practitioners. Ahpra's guidelines apply to anyone who advertises a regulated health service: practitioners, people who aren't registered, and companies, so a clinic owned by a non-practitioner is covered too. Second, advertising is defined broadly as any verbal, printed or electronic communication that promotes a regulated health service. A practice website is advertising from top to bottom, and so are its social media pages. What you tell a patient during a consultation isn't.

The advertiser is whoever controls or authorises the content. If a web designer, marketing agency or staff member writes or builds it, the guidelines still expect you to check it before it goes out. Ahpra and the National Boards say they can't give advertisers legal advice about their advertising, and suggest independent advice from a legal adviser or indemnity insurer. This guide summarises the official material and links to it; it isn't legal advice.

Service pages are where most of the persuading happens, so they carry most of the risk. Ahpra's guidelines say a claim about the effectiveness of a treatment must be backed by acceptable evidence, which mostly means peer-reviewed research, with a systematic review of randomised controlled trials at the top. Before-and-after studies with few or no controls, self-assessment studies and anecdotes generally don't qualify, and Ahpra says a claim without acceptable evidence may be treated as false, misleading or deceptive.

Ahpra's summary of the requirements adds a few points that apply directly to service pages:

• Don't say a condition is treated or helped without explaining how, and without acceptable evidence.
• Don't leave out accurate information about risks.
• Comparisons of outcomes, professions, practitioners or prices can mislead unless they're clear, accurate and backed by evidence, so lines like 'the leading clinic in the region' are worth dropping.
• Don't encourage people to use a service with no clinical need, such as routine check-ups with no evidence for the interval.

The plainer a service page is, the less there is to go wrong: what the service is, who provides it, what happens at an appointment, what it costs and how to book. That's also what most patients came to find out.

Ahpra defines a testimonial as a recommendation or positive statement about the clinical aspects of a regulated health service: the symptom or reason for seeking treatment, the diagnosis or treatment, or the outcome, including comments on the practitioner's skill. Comments only about customer service or communication style, such as friendly reception staff or being seen on time, aren't testimonials and can be used. Fake reviews count as purported testimonials.

Who is responsible depends on control. Reviews you publish or republish on your own website are your responsibility. So are reviews on your business's social media pages; where a platform won't let you edit or remove them, Ahpra suggests turning the review function off. On a booking site or review platform you don't control, the platform owner is responsible, and you don't have to remove or try to remove reviews there. Ahpra warns, though, that engaging with reviews on those sites may itself count as using a testimonial.

That makes automatic review widgets a real problem for health practices. A widget that pulls every new Google review onto your home page republishes it there the moment it's posted, before anyone has read it, and a patient thanking you for fixing their back is a clinical testimonial. Ahpra also says editing reviews can mislead, for example publishing only the positive half of a mixed one, and that publishing complete, unedited reviews that aren't testimonials avoids a breach. On a site we build, that usually means one of two things: a few complete, non-clinical reviews you've chosen, added as ordinary text, or no reviews at all. Ahpra's testimonial tool has a flowchart for deciding about a particular review.

Ahpra's summary says pricing should be clear, accurate and easy to understand, and should show the total price, not only the initial cost or the price of an introductory consultation. If you publish a fee table, that means the full fee for each appointment type, not only the first visit.

For offers, the terms and conditions must be stated in plain language and easy to find, without the patient having to search or ring you. Where space is short, such as a banner, the offer can link to the full terms. Ahpra notes that a 'free' service isn't really free if the cost is recovered somewhere else, and that time-limited offers may encourage unnecessary use.

Booking links send patients to platforms such as HotDoc or Cliniko. Under the testimonial guidance, reviews on a third-party booking site you don't control are the platform's responsibility. The profile text, fees and offers you write there are still your advertising, because the advertiser is whoever controls or authorises the content.

Medicines bring in a second regulator. Ahpra's guidelines point out that the National Law doesn't regulate therapeutic goods such as medicines and medical devices; the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) does, and advertising a health service often involves advertising therapeutic goods too. Ahpra adds that breaching the TGA's advertising laws may also be grounds for action under the National Law, and its cosmetic advertising guidelines say a procedure that involves a prescription-only medicine should also comply with the TGA's requirements. Before any page on your site names a medicine, read the TGA's guidance on advertising a health service.

A summary of the points above, best used alongside Ahpra's advertising hub (opens in a new tab) and its self-assessment tool. It isn't a compliance sign-off.

1. Every effectiveness claim has acceptable evidence behind it, or it comes out.
2. Risks are mentioned where a treatment has them.
3. No 'specialist', 'specialises in' or 'surgeon' unless the registration supports it, in bios, page titles and the business name.
4. Non-medical practitioners using 'Dr' name their profession.
5. No reviews or patient stories about symptoms, treatment or outcomes, on the site or on social pages you control.
6. No automatic review feeds; any reviews shown are complete, unedited and non-clinical.
7. Before-and-after photos are genuine, unedited and matched, with any changes explained, and images of higher-risk cosmetic procedures carry a 'results may vary' warning.
8. Fees show the total cost, and every offer states or links to its terms.
9. Any mention of a medicine checked against the TGA's advertising requirements.
10. Old offers, articles and staff bios checked and updated.

You supply the words for your site and approve every line before it goes live; we arrange them into the pages. We can't tell you whether a line complies, but we'll set out what you give us without adding claims of our own. Our allied health website page covers what else a practice site needs, such as booking links by practitioner and referral pathways.