On 6 November 2025, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) released an updated version of its social media advertising guidance to support improved compliance when promoting therapeutic goods on social media.
The TGA engaged with various stakeholders to seek their input on key issues when updating their guidance. Our founder, Tegan Boorman, was involved in this process through her involvement on the Australian Influencer Marketing Council.
Types of Social Media
The guidance provides clarity to brands, influencers and agencies when advertising therapeutic goods through social media, including:
- Social communities (such as Facebook or Whatsapp);
- Professional networking (such as LinkedIn or Yammer);
- Social text publishing tools (such as Blogs, Wikipedia and SlideShare);
- Social photo publishing tools (such as Pinterest and Instagram);
- Social audio publishing tools (such as Spotify, iTunes and podcasts);
- Social video publishing tools (such as YouTube, TikTok and Instagram);
- Microblogging (such as X/Twitter and Tumblr); and
- Discussion networks (such as Discord, Reddit and Quora).
The TGA included a template ‘Social Media Acceptable Use Policy’ in the guidance. Whilst businesses may elect to adopt that template policy, they should seek their own advice on its use before doing so, particularly if they provide a regulated health service.
Unsponsored Content
Influencers often have valid concerns about whether they can post organic (unsponsored) content about therapeutic goods without having to consider the relevant laws and codes governing the advertising of therapeutic goods in Australia.
The revised guidance issued by the TGA confirms that social media posts about therapeutic goods that are disseminated by, or on behalf of, a person with a financial interest in the sale of the goods, such as manufacturers, sponsors or retailers are more likely to be considered promotional.
However it is important to note that organic (unsponsored) content may also be considered advertising in certain circumstances as we discuss below.
What is advertising?
Under the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989, any statement, pictorial representation or design that is intended to draw attention to and promote the use or supply of therapeutic goods or vaping goods, is likely to be considered to be advertising.
The revised guidance states that this includes but is not limited to social media activities that are intended to:
- attract new customers, including by encouraging consumers to seek out a therapeutic good or vaping goods;
- encourage consumption or use of therapeutic goods or vaping goods;
- build loyalty and trust in a product or brand;
- sell products;
- drive website traffic.
Generally speaking, the TGA considers promotional material to be a form of advertising.
The TGA states on their website that even if the material or the format of advertising can be said to promote the use or supply of relevant goods only in an indirect way, the material or format will still be an ‘advertisement’.
The TGA further states that typical characteristics of promotional material include the following:
- unsolicited information rather than solicited information;
- unbalanced information (for example, where it focuses on the positive qualities of a therapeutic good and omits or downplays the negative qualities such as possible side effects or limitations of use);
- the use of superlatives for example, describing a therapeutic good as ‘the best’ or ‘works fastest’;
- the use of descriptive adjectives or statements that are emotive (for example, describing a therapeutic good as ‘brilliant’ or ‘changed my life’);
- information that is disseminated on multiple occasions with regular or semi-regular frequency (for example, three times a week during the evening news);
- any information that is disseminated by, or on behalf of, manufacturers, sponsors, retailers and any other party with a financial interest in the sale of the goods referenced.
The TGA states that it takes into consideration the following factors when deciding whether certain content is an advertisement:
- the context in which the information or activity occurs;
- the audience the information is directed to, what their likely take-out message is and are they likely to consider it to be promotional;
- the use of non-verbal and unwritten messages (such as pictorial elements). The TGA notes that these may be just as important in assessing the communication and can alter the take-out message that viewers receive.
As you can see from the above, whether certain content created by influencers may be considered an advertisement which must comply with the relevant laws and codes governing the advertising of therapeutic goods in Australia, requires the relevant factors to be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Influencers can read more about what they can and cannot do when promoting therapeutic goods via the TGA’s ‘Use your influence to promote better health’ guidance.
What are the key requirements for advertising therapeutic goods?
Requirements for advertising therapeutic goods depend on the type of product being promoted, the product’s ingredients, how it works and what is intended to be said about it.
Some therapeutic goods cannot be advertised to the public, and some individuals cannot endorse or provide testimonials for use in advertisements about therapeutic goods.
Some therapeutic goods can be advertised to the public by certain individuals, subject to certain limitations.
There is added complexity where regulated health professionals are involved in the influencer’s use of the therapeutic good, due to additional limitations under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law.
Due to the complexities involved, it is recommended that you seek advice about your intended campaign before proceeding with it.
Who is responsible for advertising compliance?
Many parties can be held responsible for non-compliance when it comes to advertising therapeutic goods. When it comes to advertising therapeutic goods on social media, depending of course on the facts, this often includes brands, their officers, third parties involved in dissemination of the advertisement (such as influencers) and any agencies (such as public relations or influencer marketing agencies) involved.
As stated in the TGA’s revised guidance, where the advertising is paid for and posted on a business’ behalf, they may be responsible for any non-compliance.
The TGA has been focused on compliance and enforcement with therapeutic goods advertising requirements in recent years.
In June 2025, the TGA commenced proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia against AG Therapeutics Pty Ltd (trading as Atlus) and its sole director (Dr Shimal Jobanputra), Mamamia.com.au Pty Ltd (Mamamia), News Life Media Pty Ltd (News Life) and Straight Up PR Pty Ltd (Straight Up) for advertising medicinal cannabis in alleged contravention of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 (Cth) (the Act). The TGA noted it is seeking declarations and pecuniary penalties against Atlus, Mamamia, News Life, Straight Up and Dr Jobanputra in those proceedings.
Seek Advice
Social Law Co. can provide brands, influencers, influencer marketing agencies and talent managers with advice in relation to compliance when advertising therapeutic goods.
Information contained within this blog post is intended to be general information only and is not in any way intended to constitute legal advice. You should not act or rely on any information found in this blog post without obtaining prior advice specific to your circumstances.
