AHPRA Advertising Rules for Health Websites: A Plain-English Checklist
If you're a registered health practitioner in Australia, your website is advertising, and advertising a regulated health service has rules. They're set by the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law and explained in AHPRA's Guidelines for advertising a regulated health service. Breaching them can mean fines and, more practically, a letter you'd rather not receive.
This is the plain-English version we walk clinic clients through. It is not legal advice, and the guidelines are updated from time to time, so read the current version on AHPRA's website before you launch.
Who this applies to
Anyone advertising a regulated health service: dentists, psychologists, physiotherapists, chiropractors, osteopaths, podiatrists, medical practitioners, nurses, optometrists, pharmacists and the other registered professions. It applies to the practice as well as the individual. It does not apply to unregistered services, so a pilates studio or a massage business is outside it, though Australian Consumer Law still applies to everyone.
The testimonial rule
This is the one that catches the most people. You cannot use testimonials about the clinical aspects of a regulated health service in your advertising. "Dr Lee fixed my back pain in two sessions" on your website is a breach, even if the patient wrote it and is happy for you to use it.
What's usually fine:
- Comments about non-clinical things like parking, friendliness of reception or how easy it was to book
- Reviews that appear on third-party platforms you don't control, such as Google, as long as you don't republish the clinical ones on your own site
What's not:
- Clinical testimonials on your site, in your social media, or in a video you commissioned
- Cherry-picking clinical Google reviews onto your homepage
The practical rule we use when building clinic sites: no patient quotes about outcomes, anywhere we control. It's why our psychology practice sites lean on tone, clarity and ease of booking rather than testimonials.
Claims you can't make
Advertising must not be false, misleading or deceptive, and must not create an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment. In practice, avoid:
- Cures and guarantees. "Permanent relief", "guaranteed results".
- Comparatives you can't prove. "Melbourne's best dentist", "the most advanced clinic in Brisbane".
- Scientific-sounding claims without evidence. If a treatment claim can't be backed by acceptable evidence, don't make it.
- Encouraging indiscriminate use. Anything that pushes people toward a service they may not need.
Plain, specific descriptions of what you do and who you help are safer and, in our experience, convert better anyway.
Gifts, discounts and offers
You can offer a discount, but the terms and conditions have to be stated in the ad itself. "Free initial consult (conditions apply)" with the conditions on another page isn't enough. Put the conditions next to the offer.
Titles and specialties
Only practitioners with specialist registration can call themselves a specialist. "Dental specialist" on a general dentist's site is a breach. Terms like "specialising in" are risky for the same reason; "with a particular interest in" is the usual safe wording. Check your profession's specific rules on titles.
Before-and-after photos
They aren't banned, but they must not be misleading and must not create unreasonable expectations. Same lighting, same angle, no editing, clear consent, and a note that results vary. Many practices decide the risk isn't worth it.
Reviews on Google versus on your site
Google reviews are reviews, not your advertising, as long as you don't solicit clinical content, edit them or republish them. Asking patients to leave a review is fine. Asking them to mention their outcome is not. On your own site, a link to your Google profile is safer than an embedded feed that pulls clinical reviews onto your page.
The ten-point pre-launch checklist
Run this on every page before the site goes live:
- No testimonials about clinical outcomes anywhere on the site
- No embedded review feed that could surface clinical reviews
- No "cure", "guarantee" or "permanent" language
- No comparative claims ("best", "leading") without evidence
- Every treatment claim can be backed by acceptable evidence
- Any discount or offer has its terms stated alongside it
- Titles match registration; "specialist" only where registered
- Before-and-after images, if used, are unedited, consented and captioned
- Practitioner names and registration details are accurate
- Someone in the practice has read the current AHPRA guidelines this year
We run this list with every clinic client during copy review, and we flag anything we think is risky. The final call on clinical content is always yours. If your existing site fails a few of these, a dental or allied health rebuild is a good moment to fix them.
Owner note: confirm each point against the current AHPRA guidelines before publishing this article.