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Services · Dental and health clinics · Regional Australia
Ahpra and TGA advertising checks for dental and health clinics
Health advertising in Australia has rules that ordinary marketing does not. A breach can lead to a complaint and can damage a reputation built over years. We read every line against those rules before it goes out.
What is included
What we do, in plain terms.
No packages and no menus. We look at your clinic first and agree what is included before anything starts.
The five tests in section 133
Is it false or misleading? Does an offer state its terms and conditions? Does it use a testimonial? Does it create an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment? Does it encourage unnecessary use of a health service?
Reviews and testimonials
We check your website and social pages for patient comments about symptoms, treatment or outcomes, and advise what must come down.
Claims and evidence
Words such as painless, safe, best or permanent are checked against what can be supported.
Images
Before and after photos are checked for whether they are genuine, unedited and clearly the result of the treatment shown.
Medicines and devices
Any direct or indirect reference to a prescription medicine, including cosmetic injectables, is flagged under the TGA's rules.
The rules
Written inside the advertising rules.
The core law is short. Section 133 of the National Law says a regulated health service must not be advertised in a way that is false, misleading or deceptive; offers a gift, discount or inducement without its terms and conditions; uses testimonials; creates an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment; or encourages indiscriminate or unnecessary use of health services.
Ahpra's guidelines for advertising a regulated health service explain how that applies. They were developed jointly by all the National Boards, so the same rules cover dentists, doctors, physiotherapists, podiatrists, optometrists, psychologists and the other registered professions. Responsibility sits with whoever controls the advertising.
Therapeutic goods are a separate regime. The TGA does not regulate the advertising of health services, but an advertisement for a service can also be an advertisement for a therapeutic good, and prescription medicines cannot be advertised to the public.
We are marketers, not lawyers. We flag what the published guidance says, show you the source, and you decide. For anything borderline we recommend the cautious wording.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Ahpra and the TGA publish the rules, and their own guidance is the place to check your situation.
Each month
What you see every month.
For ongoing clients, every new page, post and ad passes this check before you see it. Each month's report lists anything we changed for compliance and why.
Every figure shows its source and date. A fuller review follows every 90 days.
Questions
What clinic owners ask.
Who is responsible if our advertising breaches the rules?
Ahpra's guidelines place responsibility on the advertiser, meaning whoever controls the advertising. For a clinic's own website and social pages that is the clinic owner or practitioner, even when an agency wrote the words.
Do these rules apply to our Facebook and Instagram pages?
Yes. Ahpra's social media guidance says the National Law and the advertising guidelines apply to social media just as they do elsewhere.
Can you check advertising that another agency produced?
Yes. A practice check can include a read of your current website, profile and recent posts against the published rules, with each concern linked to its source.
- Website design and management
- Built for phones first, with every treatment page written for patients in plain language, then kept up to date and looked after.
- Social media management
- Planned content for Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, with warm, general replies to comments.
- Google Business Profile
- Correct details, regular posts, and a steady routine for asking patients for reviews.
Next step
Start with a practice check.
Tell us about your clinic and where you think it stands. Your first practice check is free. We reply within one business day, weekends excepted, and we meet every clinic on a video call before any work begins.