Ahpra · Testimonials
Ahpra testimonial and review rules for clinics
The testimonial ban covers clinical praise, not every review. For injectables and other higher-risk procedures, the rules may go further.
Under Ahpra’s general advertising guideline, a testimonial is praise about the clinical aspects of care: the reason for treatment, the treatment itself, or the outcome and skill of the practitioner. Feedback about the non-clinical experience generally isn’t treated as one. Interacting with clinical praise can count as using it. Ahpra’s separate guideline for higher-risk non-surgical procedures, such as injectables and thread lifts, says their advertising must not use testimonials, so check how it applies to your treatments before you use any review.
General information, not legal advice. Published 14 June 2026. Last reviewed 14 June 2026. Your clinical team stays responsible for any clinical claim you publish.
What’s banned, and what isn’t
A banned testimonial is a positive statement about the clinical side. “She fixed my jawline and the results are amazing” is a testimonial. So is anything about why someone needed treatment, the treatment they had, or how skilled the practitioner was.
Under the general guideline, what you can usually use is feedback about the non-clinical experience. “The team explained everything and booking was simple” is fine. A clean clinic, a friendly reception, clear communication, an easy process. None of that is a testimonial there. The line is clinical versus non-clinical, not positive versus neutral. If you advertise injectables or other higher-risk procedures, check with your adviser before you use even non-clinical reviews in that advertising, because the higher-risk guideline may treat them more strictly.
The interaction trap
This is where careful clinics still get caught. You can “use” a testimonial by publishing, sharing, linking to, or interacting with it. Re-sharing a patient’s clinical praise to your Story. Liking or replying to a glowing clinical Google review. Screenshotting one for your feed.
You are not responsible for what a patient posts on a platform you don’t control. A 5-star clinical review someone leaves on Google on their own isn’t your breach. Interacting with it can make it one. Ahpra suggests disabling review and testimonial functions on the pages you control, which helps keep that line clean.
Where the real risk sits
The ban lives in section 133 of the National Law, alongside four other prohibitions: misleading advertising, inducements without terms, creating unreasonable expectations, and encouraging unnecessary use. A testimonial that also breaks another of those limbs is a bigger risk. A clinical review you’ve interacted with that also overstates results is the kind of thing that can draw action.
The penalties are current and steep: up to $60,000 per offence for an individual and $120,000 for a company, not the old $5,000 or $10,000 figures still quoted on older blogs. A breach can also be treated as unsatisfactory professional conduct, which puts registration at risk.
Common questions
Does Ahpra ban all reviews and testimonials?
Not under its general guideline. There, the ban covers the clinical side: a recommendation or positive statement about the reason for treatment, the treatment itself, or the outcome and skill of the practitioner. Feedback about the non-clinical experience, like a clean clinic, friendly reception, easy booking or clear communication, isn’t treated as a testimonial. If you advertise injectables or other higher-risk procedures, the separate guideline for those says their advertising must not use testimonials, so check with your adviser before you use any review in that advertising.
A patient left a 5-star Google review about their results. Is that my problem?
Not the review itself. You don’t control Google, and you’re not responsible for what patients post on platforms you don’t control. But be careful interacting with it. If you like it, reply to it, screenshot it or embed it on your site, that can count as using a clinical testimonial, and that can be your breach.
What counts as “using” a testimonial?
Publishing, sharing, linking to, or interacting with it. Re-sharing a patient’s clinical praise to your Story, liking or replying to a positive clinical review, or embedding one on your site can all count. The risk is in the interaction or republishing, not who originally wrote it.
How do I reduce the risk on my own pages?
Ahpra suggests disabling review and testimonial functions on pages you control, and switching off comments and tagging makes it harder for clinical praise to be attributed to you through interaction. Beyond that, lean on non-clinical feedback, and check with your adviser how the higher-risk guideline applies to your treatments.
The full two-regulator rulebook is here.
Testimonials are one part. The complete Ahpra and TGA picture, including injectables, before-and-after photos and the September 2025 rules, is in the pillar guide.
Read the 2026 rulebookSources