the TGA advertising code, explained for clinics

If your clinic offers treatments that involve prescription only medicines, two sets of advertising law apply to you at once. AHPRA regulates how you advertise your services. The TGA regulates any advertising that touches the therapeutic goods themselves. This page covers the TGA side: what the code actually requires, where the line sits between advertising a service and advertising a medicine, and what changed in the TGA's new guidance published on 18 June 2026.

Everything here is cited to the actual instrument or the TGA's current guidance, with the wording quoted rather than paraphrased. It is general information, not legal advice about your clinic.

the instrument, precisely

The code is the Therapeutic Goods (Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code) Instrument 2021, made under section 42BAA of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989. It is in force, and its current compilation has applied since 20 December 2022. The prohibition that matters most to clinics sits in the Act itself: advertising prescription medicines to the public is prohibited under subsections 42DL(10) and 42DLB(7), which the TGA's own guidance states plainly: "Advertising prescription medicines or substances is prohibited under subsections 42DL(10) and 42DLB(7) of the Act, apart from limited circumstances."

Most cosmetic injectable products contain Schedule 4 substances. In the TGA's words: "Most cosmetic injectables contain substances that are in Schedule 4 to the Poisons Standard and, in accordance with the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 (the Act), cannot be advertised to the public."

the line between advertising a service and advertising a medicine

You can advertise your clinic. You cannot advertise the prescription medicines it uses, and the TGA's guidance concedes the line "can be subtle". The Act defines advertising as anything "intended, directly or indirectly, to promote the use or supply of therapeutic goods", which is why indirect references count.

The TGA's worked example puts both sides of the line in one place: "'Call our clinic for a consultation to discuss treatment options for migraine', does not refer to therapeutic goods. By contrast, if a health service website promotes the availability or use of a particular medicine to treat migraines, this would likely be considered advertising of that product."

For cosmetic clinics the guidance is blunter: "When advertising a cosmetic service, do not refer to prescription medicines or substances – even indirectly. This includes: brand names, acronyms or abbreviations, colloquial names or nicknames, hashtags".

what changed in June 2026

On 18 June 2026 the TGA published new guidance, Complying with the restrictions on advertising prescription medicines to the public, and updated its health services guidance the same week. Three things in it deserve your attention.

The prohibited list got more concrete. The new guidance tabulates prohibited references: trade names (its examples are "Botox" and "Ozempic"), class references "including indirectly or using substitute terms" (examples include "Wrinkle reduction injections", "Weight-loss injections" and "Peptides"), colloquial names (examples include "Tox" and "Haytox"), and even implied visual references: "Graphics of syringes, applicator pens, vials, capsules or pills associated with prescription medicines", including in logos. If your clinic's logo or social templates feature a syringe, that is now an explicit example in TGA guidance.

Consultation wording is not a loophole. The new guidance warns that a service which "offers consultations for specific medicines, whether directly or indirectly, where the advertising implies that a prescription could or will result from the consultation" is likely unlawful. Renaming an injectable page to a consultation page while everything around it still signals the medicine does not fix the problem.

Even generic phrasing can breach. The guidance gives the example of a cosmetic clinic post saying it "'specialise[s] in natural-looking cosmetic injectables that enhance your beauty'" and states it "may amount to unlawful advertising of botulinum toxin". The full banned vocabulary, and what the TGA says about substitutes, is covered in the banned terms article.

the code requirements clinics trip on

Beyond the prescription medicine prohibition, the code itself sets rules for any therapeutic goods advertising you do lawfully:

Accuracy and substantiation, section 8(1). An advertisement "must: (a) be accurate, balanced and not misleading or likely to be misleading; and (b) only contain information that is substantiated by the advertiser prior to publication or dissemination." Substantiated before publication, not after a complaint.

Testimonials and endorsements, section 24. Testimonials must be verified ("the advertiser has verified the content of, and identity of the person making, the testimonial") and must not come from anyone "engaged in the production, marketing or supply of the goods", a definition whose note expressly includes influencers and anyone receiving "valuable consideration". Endorsements must not come from "a current or former health practitioner, health professional or medical researcher". Note this operates alongside AHPRA's separate, stricter ban on testimonials in health service advertising, covered in the testimonial rule article.

Samples, section 25. Advertising "must not contain or consist of a sample, or an offer of a sample" for goods containing scheduled substances, and the code defines a sample as "any goods given for free". A free treatment involving a Schedule 4 medicine is not a promotion, it is a breach.

Prices, section 32. Price information for these goods "may only be published or disseminated by a retail pharmacy", an agent of one, or an approved medical practitioner. The TGA's FAQ applies this directly: "It is unlikely that a cosmetic clinic would meet the definition of a retail pharmacy and therefore publication of price lists/pricing information (for prescription-only medicine or substance) by cosmetic injection services is likely to contravene the Act." A price menu for prescription only treatments is its own breach, separate from how the treatment is named.

penalties, in current dollars

A Commonwealth penalty unit is $364 for conduct from 1 July 2026. Under the Act:

• Unlawful advertising where reliance on it results in or is likely to result in harm or injury: up to 5 years' imprisonment or 4,000 penalty units ($1,456,000), or both (section 42DL(1))
• Unlawful advertising generally: up to 12 months' imprisonment or 1,000 penalty units ($364,000), or both (section 42DL(2)), with a strict liability version at 100 penalty units ($36,400)
• Civil penalties: up to 5,000 penalty units ($1.82 million) for an individual and 50,000 penalty units ($18.2 million) for a body corporate (section 42DLB(1))
• Continuing breaches: each day a contravention continues is "a separate offence"

Enforcement is not theoretical. In December 2025 the TGA announced infringement notices against a Queensland individual for, among other things, "the unlawful advertising of cosmetic injectables". Most enforcement starts far smaller than the maximums, but the maximums tell you how seriously the framework takes this category, and disclaimers do not help: the TGA states that including a disclaimer "does not discharge the obligation to comply with legislation".

the two regulator problem

The TGA is explicit about its boundary: "the regulation of the promotion of health services is not within our jurisdiction. The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) and the National Boards regulate health practitioners and their practices/services." So a single Instagram post can breach TGA rules (it names a prescription medicine), AHPRA rules (it uses a testimonial), or both at once. Your advertising has to pass both frameworks simultaneously, which is the subject of the AHPRA guidelines article.

Two TGA positions make the compliance surface wider than most clinics assume. All social media posts, "historical and new, are required to comply", so the 2022 posts still on your feed count. And businesses are responsible for "user-generated content, such as third-party comments posted on those social media platforms that are controlled by the business", so comments under your posts are your problem too.

check where your clinic stands

The free compliance audit reviews your website, Google Business Profile, social accounts and ads against both frameworks, current as at the June 2026 guidance, and puts every finding in writing with the exact provision it sits under. No call required. The document speaks for itself.

Sources: Therapeutic Goods (Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code) Instrument 2021 (F2021L01661, compilation in force 20 December 2022) and Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 (C2004A03952, Compilation No. 89), legislation.gov.au. TGA, Advertising health services that involve therapeutic goods (updated 18 June 2026); Complying with the restrictions on advertising prescription medicines to the public (18 June 2026); Advertising health services and cosmetic injections FAQ (updated 10 July 2025); TGA media releases 7 March 2024 and 18 December 2025 (tga.gov.au). Crimes (Amount of a Penalty Unit) Instrument 2026 (F2026N00424). Sighted 19 July 2026.