AHPRA and social media: what practitioners can and can't post

AHPRA treats social media the same as any other advertising medium. Section 133 of the National Law doesn't care whether you're running a TV ad or posting a Reel. If it promotes a regulated health service, the rules apply. The only thing social media changes is the speed at which clinics can breach the rules without realising.

This page covers how AHPRA applies to social media specifically: what counts as advertising, what to do about comments and DMs, the rules on before-and-after content on platforms, influencer partnerships, and the cosmetic surgery reforms that reshape what cosmetic clinics can post.

If it's a practitioner or practice account, it's advertising

AHPRA's guidance is clear: any content on a registered practitioner's or practice's account that promotes a regulated health service is captured by section 133. That includes feed posts, stories, Reels, TikToks, LinkedIn posts, YouTube videos, podcasts hosted on a clinic channel, and the bio of the account itself.

Personal accounts get treated differently if they genuinely are personal and don't promote services. The moment a "personal" account starts pushing the clinic, the practitioner's services, or content that effectively functions as marketing, AHPRA treats it as advertising regardless of how it's labelled.

The five social media patterns that most often breach

• Screenshotted reviews or DMs as proof. A patient DM praising a result, reposted as a story, is a testimonial under section 133.
• Before-and-after content in paid posts. The Boards' guidance limits before-and-after imagery in advertising; paid Instagram and TikTok content is held to the higher bar.
• Outcome guarantees. "Lose 10kg in 4 weeks", "no more back pain", "instant results". Any language that creates an unreasonable expectation of benefit breaches section 133.
• Comparative or superlative claims in captions. "Sydney's best dental clinic" in a caption is the same breach as on a billboard.
• Influencer collaborations without proper disclosure or with prohibited content. Even with disclosure, the content itself still has to be section 133-compliant.

Comments, DMs, and the reposting trap

AHPRA can't hold a practitioner responsible for what a stranger types in a comment thread. It can hold the practitioner responsible for what they do with that comment. Pinning a glowing testimonial, screenshotting it for a story, hearting it as endorsement, or actively soliciting more of the same all move the content from "user comment" to "published testimonial in the practitioner's marketing."

Operational rule of thumb: thank patients in private, moderate genuinely problematic comments according to platform policy, and don't make a feature out of clinical praise. The same applies to DMs. Re-publish nothing without checking.

Influencer and creator partnerships

Paid or incentivised content from a creator about a clinic or practitioner is layered under three sets of rules at once: AHPRA section 133, the ACCC's misleading-conduct provisions in the Australian Consumer Law, and the Ad Standards influencer guidelines on disclosure.

AHPRA's part is the strictest of the three because it prohibits testimonial content entirely. A creator describing how a treatment worked for them, what results they got, or how much they love the practitioner is exactly the kind of content that breaches. The campaigns that survive AHPRA review are usually purely educational. The creator explains a condition or category, the brand is mentioned factually, and no clinical experience is described.

Cosmetic procedures and the 2023 reforms

The Medical Board's reforms to cosmetic surgery advertising (in force from mid-2023) tightened restrictions specifically for cosmetic procedures, both surgical and non-surgical. Highlights that matter for social media:

• Restrictions on minimising the seriousness of cosmetic procedures, including through trivialising language, comedy formats, or "glamourisation" of surgery.
• Stricter limits on before-and-after imagery in paid advertising.
• Requirements around accurate disclosure of practitioner endorsement and qualifications (e.g. who can use "cosmetic surgeon").
• Restrictions on advertising targeted at minors, and on the use of patient testimonials.

If you're running a cosmetic practice on Instagram or TikTok, the safer working assumption is that any content showing procedures, results, or patient stories will attract scrutiny. Build content around clinician credentials, process transparency, and educational explainers instead.

A workable social media playbook

The clinics that grow on social media within AHPRA's rules tend to follow the same pattern:

1. Lead with education: conditions explained, treatments demystified, what to expect at first appointment.
2. Show the people, not the patients: practitioner introductions, team behind-the-scenes, professional development.
3. Use practice signals: fit-out walkthroughs, equipment, accessibility, telehealth options.
4. Keep results out of paid promotion. If you must post before-and-afters, keep them on organic feed and within the Board's conditions.
5. Moderate comments and DMs without amplifying clinical praise.

For the full picture see the AHPRA advertising guidelines and AHPRA testimonials pages. Or start with the What is AHPRA? explainer if you're new to the framework.