For registered health practitioners

AHPRA social media rules: what your clinic can and can't post

Physios, chiros, dentists, osteos and most allied health practitioners advertise under the National Law, and the rules follow you onto Instagram and TikTok. Here is the plain-English version, and what a compliant feed actually posts instead.

Why your Instagram is "advertising"

If you are registered with AHPRA, almost anything your clinic publishes that could attract a patient counts as advertising a regulated health service, and that includes reels, stories, carousels, captions and even how you reply to comments. The same National Law rules that govern your website govern your social feed.

The clinics that get in trouble are rarely the cynical ones. They are busy practitioners reposting a patient's kind words without knowing that is the one thing the law names directly.

The five rules that matter on social media

No testimonials about clinical care

The National Law does not allow testimonials about clinical aspects of care in advertising. That includes screenshots of five-star reviews describing treatment, patient before-and-after praise in captions, and resharing a patient's story about their recovery. Reviews can exist on Google, you just cannot use the clinical ones in your advertising.

No misleading or exaggerated claims

Nothing false, misleading or likely to create unreasonable expectations of beneficial treatment. "Fix your back pain for good" fails. "Evidence-based care for back pain" passes. Absolute words, cure language and guarantees are the red flags.

Claims need acceptable evidence

If a post claims a treatment works for a condition, that claim needs to be supportable by acceptable evidence, not a single small study and not anecdote. The safest content leads with education rather than treatment claims.

No gifts or discounts without the fine print

Offering a gift, discount or inducement in an ad is allowed only if the terms and conditions are stated. A "free initial assessment" reel without conditions attached is a compliance risk, not a growth hack.

Patient imagery needs informed consent

Photos and videos of real patients need proper informed consent, and consent for clinical imagery is its own conversation, not a checkbox. Many clinics simply avoid identifiable patient content and lose nothing.

So what does a compliant clinic feed post?

Education that shows expertise. Condition explainers, myth-busting, exercise demonstrations and prevention tips. This is also the content that builds trust and bookings, which is convenient.

Your people and your rooms. Practitioner introductions, how an appointment works, what to bring. Familiarity converts, and none of it makes a clinical claim.

Process, not promises. "Here is how we assess a sore shoulder" is compliant. "We fix shoulders" is not. The first is also more believable.

Community and credentials. Local sponsorships, professional development, the human side of the clinic. All safe, all brand-building.

Before you hit publish, ask

Does this post quote or reshare a patient talking about their care? If yes, do not post it.
Would a reasonable person read this as a promise or guarantee? Soften it to what the evidence supports.
Is there an offer in it? State the terms or drop the offer.
Is anyone identifiable in the footage? Confirm informed consent exists in writing.
When in doubt, check AHPRA's advertising hub or ask your professional association. This article is general information, not legal advice.

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