34The advertisement
How dental services may be advertised
Section 133 of the National Law forbids advertising for a regulated health service that is false, misleading or deceptive, that offers an inducement without stating its terms, that uses testimonials, that creates an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment, or that encourages indiscriminate or unnecessary use of regulated health services. The Dental Board of Australia sets out the same five rules for dental advertisers, beside guidelines the National Boards developed jointly, which a court may have regard to.
General information, not legal advice. Ahpra’s guidelines for advertising a regulated health service and the Dental Board’s advertising page are the places to check.
The Law
ProhibitionSection 133, word for word
“(1) A person must not advertise a regulated health service, or a business that provides a regulated health service, in a way that”
“(a) is false, misleading or deceptive or is likely to be misleading or deceptive; or
(b) offers a gift, discount or other inducement to attract a person to use the service or the business, unless the advertisement also states the terms and conditions of the offer; or
(c) uses testimonials or purported testimonials about the service or business; or
(d) creates an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment; or
(e) directly or indirectly encourages the indiscriminate or unnecessary use of regulated health services.”
Subsection (4) defines the term: “regulated health service means a service provided by, or usually provided by, a health practitioner.”
Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, section 133(1) and (4). The National Law has the whole section.
The rules bind anyone who advertises such a service: registered practitioners, people who are not registered, and companies. A printer or publisher does not commit the offence merely by publishing someone else’s advertisement as part of its business.
3Testimonials
ProhibitionWhat counts as a testimonial
The Law does not define the word, so Ahpra and the Boards use its ordinary meaning. In advertising, a testimonial is a recommendation or positive statement about the clinical aspects of a regulated health service. Ahpra lists those aspects as symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and outcome. A comment about customer service or communication style, with no clinical aspect, is not a testimonial.
Ahpra gives the reason for the ban: testimonials are often personal, and one person’s outcome does not reflect the outcomes others can expect. The ban does not stop patients giving feedback, leaving reviews or sharing their stories on websites or social media. Responsibility sits with whoever controls the advertising, and an advertiser need not remove testimonials on platforms it does not control.
4Images
Before-and-after images
Section 133 does not name images. The guidelines treat before-and-after pictures as a matter for care: they can mislead or deceive, and can leave a member of the public expecting a successful outcome that is not reasonable to expect. Among the guidelines’ examples, an image may breach the Law when it is unclear how the treatment caused the benefit shown, or when the images are not genuine or have been edited or enhanced.
The guidelines then list when such images are less likely to mislead:
- the two pictures match as closely as possible in content, camera angle, background, framing and exposure
- posture, clothing and make-up are consistent
- lighting and contrast are consistent
- any alteration to the images is explained
- the only visible change in the person is the treatment or procedure referred to.
Offers and prices
Offers, prices and promises
| Topic | What Ahpra says |
|---|---|
| Gifts and discounts | An offer must state or refer to its terms and conditions, keep them clear, easily understood, accurate and honest, and make them easy to find. |
| “Free” | The public generally reads “free” as absolutely free; an offer whose cost is recovered through a higher price elsewhere, or from another source such as Medicare, is not actually free. |
| Prices | Prices should be clear, accurate and honest, and show the total price, not only initial costs or the price of some consultations. |
| Time-limited offers | These may encourage unnecessary use of health services, directly or indirectly. |
| Evidence | Any claim needs acceptable evidence behind it, or it may be treated as false, misleading or deceptive. |
| Risk | Advertising should give accurate information about the risks of a treatment or procedure. The guidelines’ examples of a possible breach include overstating a benefit, and minimising risk with words such as “safe”, “effective”, “risk-free” or “pain-free” without acknowledging possible adverse reactions or mixed evidence. |
Specialist words in advertising have their own rules, set out in the guide to dental specialists.
Penalties
Penalties
Breaching an advertising requirement is a criminal offence, and a court may impose a fine; a current or former registered practitioner may also face disciplinary action. Ahpra’s page on advertising and the law, as it read on 9 October 2026, gives the maximum financial penalties per offence:
- for an individual, such as a registered health practitioner, $60,000
- for a body corporate, $120,000.
Ahpra’s guidelines page says those maximums rose in 2022, from $5,000 and $10,000, and its page on advertising and the law says that, as of July 2024, the increased penalties apply in all jurisdictions, including Western Australia. A National Board may also act on a practitioner’s conduct, which can include placing conditions on their registration.
Complaints
Where a concern about an advertisement goes
A complaint about advertising can be made through the complaint form on Ahpra’s website. Ahpra and the Boards say they cannot advise whether a particular advertisement complies.
Two other laws can apply. The Therapeutic Goods Administration regulates the advertising of therapeutic goods, such as medicines and medical devices, and the guide to teeth whitening covers how peroxide preparations are scheduled. Ahpra also names the Australian Consumer Law, which guarantees consumer rights when buying goods and services; the guide to your rights sets them out.