Ahpra Guidelines for Advertising a Regulated Health Service (December 2020)
What Ahpra and the National Boards expect of anyone advertising a regulated health service: identifying the advertiser, avoiding misleading claims, holding evidence for effectiveness claims, accurate titles and qualifications, offers, testimonials and reviews, unreasonable expectations, images and unnecessary use. Guidance explaining section 133 of the National Law, not law.
Ahpra Guidelines for Advertising a Regulated Health Service (December 2020) is a compliance framework from Australia (all states and territories under the National Law) with 4 domains and 19 controls. The largest domains are Titles and claims about registration and qualifications (section 4.1.4) – Ahpra Guidelines for Advertising a Regulated Health Service (December 2020) (7 controls), Gifts, testimonials, expectations and unnecessary use (sections 4.2 to 4.5) – Ahpra Guidelines for Advertising a Regulated Health Service (December 2020) (6 controls), False, misleading or deceptive advertising (section 4.1) – Ahpra Guidelines for Advertising a Regulated Health Service (December 2020) (3 controls). Every control below carries what it requires and what an assessor expects to see.
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Framework Domains (4)
False, misleading or deceptive advertising (section 4.1) – Ahpra Guidelines for Advertising a Regulated Health Service (December 2020)
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| ahpra-guidelines-for-advertising-a-regulated-health-service-december-2020::adv-comparison | Keep comparative claims clear, accurate and supported |
| ahpra-guidelines-for-advertising-a-regulated-health-service-december-2020::adv-evidence | Hold acceptable evidence for every effectiveness claim |
| ahpra-guidelines-for-advertising-a-regulated-health-service-december-2020::adv-misleading | Do not publish false, misleading or deceptive advertising |
Gifts, testimonials, expectations and unnecessary use (sections 4.2 to 4.5) – Ahpra Guidelines for Advertising a Regulated Health Service (December 2020)
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| ahpra-guidelines-for-advertising-a-regulated-health-service-december-2020::adv-expectation | Do not create an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment |
| ahpra-guidelines-for-advertising-a-regulated-health-service-december-2020::adv-images | Use images and before-and-after photographs that are genuine and comparable |
| ahpra-guidelines-for-advertising-a-regulated-health-service-december-2020::adv-inducements | State the terms and conditions of any gift, discount or inducement |
| ahpra-guidelines-for-advertising-a-regulated-health-service-december-2020::adv-reviews | Control review functions you run and know where responsibility sits |
| ahpra-guidelines-for-advertising-a-regulated-health-service-december-2020::adv-testimonials | Do not use testimonials or purported testimonials in advertising |
| ahpra-guidelines-for-advertising-a-regulated-health-service-december-2020::adv-unnecessary | Do not encourage indiscriminate or unnecessary use of services |
Titles and claims about registration and qualifications (section 4.1.4) – Ahpra Guidelines for Advertising a Regulated Health Service (December 2020)
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| ahpra-guidelines-for-advertising-a-regulated-health-service-december-2020::adv-doctor | Make the profession clear when a non-medical practitioner uses 'Dr' |
| ahpra-guidelines-for-advertising-a-regulated-health-service-december-2020::adv-position-titles | Use employment position titles only within their employment context |
| ahpra-guidelines-for-advertising-a-regulated-health-service-december-2020::adv-qualifications | Describe qualifications, experience and memberships accurately |
| ahpra-guidelines-for-advertising-a-regulated-health-service-december-2020::adv-specialist | Use specialist and endorsement titles only when held |
| ahpra-guidelines-for-advertising-a-regulated-health-service-december-2020::adv-specialist-words | Avoid 'specialist' wording without specialist registration and do not overstate a specialty |
| ahpra-guidelines-for-advertising-a-regulated-health-service-december-2020::adv-surgeon | Do not use the title surgeon unless in the permitted medical classes |
| ahpra-guidelines-for-advertising-a-regulated-health-service-december-2020::adv-title-descriptor | Add descriptive terms to a protected title only where they do not overstate skill or imply a specialty |
Who is an advertiser and what must they do (sections 1 to 3) – Ahpra Guidelines for Advertising a Regulated Health Service (December 2020)
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| ahpra-guidelines-for-advertising-a-regulated-health-service-december-2020::adv-advertiser | Identify who controls the advertising and take responsibility for it |
| ahpra-guidelines-for-advertising-a-regulated-health-service-december-2020::adv-comply | Comply with section 133, the title protection provisions and the other laws that apply |
| ahpra-guidelines-for-advertising-a-regulated-health-service-december-2020::adv-review | Check all advertising regularly and read it for overall impression |
What is Ahpra Guidelines for Advertising a Regulated Health Service (December 2020) and who does it apply to?
Ahpra Guidelines for Advertising a Regulated Health Service (December 2020) is a compliance framework from Australia (all states and territories under the National Law) with 4 domains and 19 controls. What Ahpra and the National Boards expect of anyone advertising a regulated health service: identifying the advertiser, avoiding misleading claims, holding evidence for effectiveness claims, accurate titles and qualifications, offers, testimonials and reviews, unreasonable expectations, images and unnecessary use. Guidance explaining section 133 of the National Law, not law. It is used by organisations to establish and maintain compliance with industry standards and regulatory requirements.
What does Ahpra Guidelines for Advertising a Regulated Health Service (December 2020) actually require?
Ahpra Guidelines for Advertising a Regulated Health Service (December 2020) has 19 controls organised across 4 domains. The largest domains are Titles and claims about registration and qualifications (section 4.1.4) – Ahpra Guidelines for Advertising a Regulated Health Service (December 2020) (7 controls), Gifts, testimonials, expectations and unnecessary use (sections 4.2 to 4.5) – Ahpra Guidelines for Advertising a Regulated Health Service (December 2020) (6 controls), False, misleading or deceptive advertising (section 4.1) – Ahpra Guidelines for Advertising a Regulated Health Service (December 2020) (3 controls). Each control defines specific requirements that organisations must implement to achieve compliance.
If I already comply with another framework, how much of Ahpra Guidelines for Advertising a Regulated Health Service (December 2020) do I already cover?
Ahpra Guidelines for Advertising a Regulated Health Service (December 2020) does not currently have cross-framework mappings in our system. Check back as we continuously expand our mapping database.
How do I implement Ahpra Guidelines for Advertising a Regulated Health Service (December 2020)?
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