Fellow Australian Dentists,
Are you using words such as “confidence”, pain-less, worry-free in your website content?
Please note these words are not compliant.
When your team writes the website content, do your writers also pay attention to them?
Just so we are on the same page, when your team do the QA, here is what they are checking:
– Human readability: Does the content flow and sound human (Australian)?
– SEO optimised: Is the structure good for SEO?
– AHPRA compliant: There is no “pain-free”, “worry-free”, “boost your confidence”, “get your dream job”, “find the love of your life” type of words/ sentiment
It’s very important to be up to date with the guidelines for advertising a regulated health service.
About the National Boards and Ahpra
The 15 national health practitioner boards (the National Boards) who regulate registered health practitioners in Australia are responsible for registering practitioners and students (except for in psychology, where students are registered as provisional psychologists), setting the standards that practitioners must meet, and managing complaints and concerns (notifications) about the health, conduct or performance of practitioners.
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) works in partnership with the National Boards to implement the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme, under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, as in force in each state and territory (the National Law).
The core role of the National Boards and Ahpra is to protect the public.
About the Advertising Guidelines
The Guidelines for advertising a regulated health service (the advertising guidelines) have been developed jointly by the National Boards under section 39 of the National Law.
The National Boards completed a review of the advertising guidelines in 2020. The revised advertising guidelines took effect on 14 December 2020.
The guidelines have been developed to help practitioners and other advertisers understand their obligations when advertising a regulated health service.
The Medical Board of Australia has also published the Guidelines for registered medical practitioners who advertise cosmetic surgery to explain the requirements for medical practitioners when advertising cosmetic surgery.
Increased maximum penalty for advertising offences
In 2022, the National Law was amended and one of the changes was to increase the maximum penalty for advertising offences. For an individual, the maximum financial penalty per offence increased from $5,000 to $60,000, and for a body corporate the maximum financial penalty per offence increased from $10,000 to $120,000. The process for managing advertising breaches under the National Law is set out in section 1.3 of the guidelines.
In Western Australia the maximum penalty for advertising offences has not increased and different penalties apply.
The advertising guidelines will be updated to include the changes when the advertising guidelines are next reviewed.
For the full information, go to: