Yes, your clinic can run social media without breaching AHPRA's advertising rules. The compliant path is education-first content that explains conditions, shows how appointments work and introduces your team, because testimonials about clinical care are prohibited under the National Law. Get Known plans, films and publishes exactly that kind of content, with every post checked against the guidelines before it goes live.
The most useful compliant content answers the questions patients type into Google late at night. A physio explaining why heels hurt on the first steps of the morning, a dentist walking through exactly what happens in a check-up and clean, a GP practice showing how a care plan works. Add process content covering what to bring to a first appointment and what the rooms look like, plus team content that puts faces to names before a patient ever walks in. None of it needs a testimonial to work, and all of it sits comfortably inside AHPRA's guidelines because it is factual and balanced.
Section 133 of the National Law prohibits using testimonials about the clinical aspects of a regulated health service in your advertising, which covers symptoms, diagnoses, treatments and outcomes. That includes sharing a patient's glowing Google review to your own pages, because once you use it in your advertising, it becomes your testimonial. The workable alternative is to leave independent review platforms untouched, use only comments about non-clinical things like friendly staff or clear communication if you use any at all, and let educational content demonstrate your competence instead of praise. Patients trust a practitioner who explains things well, so the explanation does the persuading.
Many of the people considering your clinic are anxious, whether it is dental fear, a first physio assessment after an injury, or a cosmetic consult they have not told anyone about. Nervous patients research far more than relaxed ones, and what they are looking for is predictability, meaning what the room looks like, who will treat them and what happens step by step. Content that walks through a first appointment, shows the practitioner speaking naturally and explains how discomfort is managed answers those fears before the phone call. That is trust-building AHPRA has no problem with, because it is simply accurate information.
Cosmetic services attract stricter scrutiny again, with specific AHPRA guidance on how procedures can be promoted and tight limits on before and after images, which must not mislead or create unreasonable expectations. Content that glamorises a procedure or downplays risk and recovery is exactly what draws complaints. The compliant route is still education, covering what the procedure involves, who is and is not a suitable candidate, what recovery honestly looks like, and the qualifications of the people doing the work.
A content plan that needs a practitioner filming between patients is a plan that quietly dies. Get Known batches filming into single sessions, so one block in a quiet part of your week captures a full run of educational clips, appointment walkthroughs and team pieces. Topics and scripts are checked against AHPRA guidance before the camera comes out, so nothing has to be pulled down later. You go back to your patient list, and we handle the editing, captions and publishing.
If your books are full and you are turning patients away, more demand is a cost, not a win, and we will tell you that in the first conversation. If most of your patients arrive through GP referrals, care plans or specialist letters, time spent on referrer relationships will do more than any content calendar. And for acute problems, a cracked tooth or a back that seized this morning, people search, they do not scroll, so your Google presence matters more than social. Social media earns its place for considered decisions like orthodontics, cosmetic treatment or choosing a regular physio, and we would rather say that plainly than sell you a channel that will not move your bookings.
No, not about clinical care. Section 133 of the National Law prohibits using testimonials about the clinical aspects of a regulated health service in advertising, and that includes your clinic's social media pages. Comments about non-clinical things, such as friendly staff or clear communication, are not treated as testimonials and may be used. Patients can still leave reviews on independent platforms, the restriction is on you using clinical ones in your own advertising.
Educational and factual content is the compliant path under AHPRA's advertising guidelines. That includes explaining conditions and treatments, showing what happens at an appointment, introducing your team and answering common patient questions, as long as it is accurate, balanced and does not create unreasonable expectations of benefit. Avoid clinical testimonials, misleading before and after images and any claim you cannot support with evidence.
Only if the review says nothing about clinical care. A review praising your reception team or how easy your practice is to deal with can generally be used, but one describing symptoms, treatment or results cannot appear in your advertising. Reviews patients leave on independent platforms you do not control are not the problem, the line is crossed when you republish clinical ones on channels you run.
Yes. The advertising requirements in the National Law apply to any channel used to promote a regulated health service, including social media, websites and paid ads. The practice or practitioner being advertised is responsible for the content even when an agency creates and posts it, which is why every post should be checked against AHPRA's guidelines before it goes live.
It depends on how your patients choose you. People with urgent problems search rather than scroll, so acute care is usually better served by a strong Google presence. Social media earns its keep for decisions patients research and sit with, such as orthodontics, cosmetic treatments and choosing a regular practitioner, where familiarity decides who gets the call. If your practice is already full or largely referral driven, it may not be the right spend at all.
Part of our social media management service, which covers every industry we work across. Our founder Nicholas Remondos also writes longer guides at nicholasremondos.com.
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