The TGA influencer marketing rules change what a creator campaign can look like for any Australian brand selling a product with a therapeutic claim. The core rule surprises most marketers: a creator who is paid, or even gifted product, cannot share their own experience or results with the good. Campaigns still work, and work well, but the brief has to be built differently, starting with a clear list of what creators can and cannot say.
The short answer: a creator who receives payment or free product cannot give a testimonial about a therapeutic good in Australia, so compliant campaigns are built on accepted indications, brand-substantiated claims and demonstration rather than personal results.
Key Takeaways
- Anyone who has received or will receive valuable consideration, including gifted product, counts as engaged in marketing under the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code and cannot give a testimonial about the goods.
- Current or former health practitioners, and anyone who presents as qualified to diagnose or treat, cannot endorse therapeutic goods. That rules out the nurse, dermatologist or “skin expert” fronting a campaign.
- Every claim in creator content must be substantiated before publication and must not be inconsistent with the indication accepted for the goods in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods.
- Advertisements about medicines must carry the medicine’s name, an accepted indication and the statement ALWAYS READ THE LABEL AND FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS FOR USE, with extra requirements for shoppable posts.
- ACCC disclosure rules apply on top of the Code. An “ad” label does not make a prohibited testimonial legal.
What Are the TGA Rules for Influencer Marketing?
The TGA rules for influencer marketing sit in the Therapeutic Goods (Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code) Instrument 2021, made under the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989. Once a brand pays a creator, or gifts them product, that creator’s content about a therapeutic good is advertising, and the Code applies to it in full.
The Code judges an advertisement by its likely impact on a reasonable person in the audience it is directed to, and the total presentation and context of the ad is taken into account. That means the video, the caption, the tone and the imagery are read together, not clause by clause. A technically careful caption under a before-and-after video does not save the post.
The Code does not apply to advertising directed exclusively to health professionals, to public health campaigns, or to genuine news published by a broadcaster. A creator post aimed at consumers is none of those things, so it sits squarely inside the rules. The purpose is straightforward: therapeutic goods affect health, so the law holds advertising about them to a higher standard than a lipstick launch.
Which Products Are Caught by the Code?
Any therapeutic good advertised to Australian consumers is caught, and the Code singles out four categories for extra rules: analgesics, complementary medicines, sunscreens and weight-management goods. If a brand sells supplements, SPF, pain relief or anything with a weight-related claim, the Code is part of the brief.
Claims must also line up with the paperwork. An advertisement about goods in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods must not be inconsistent with any indication or intended purpose accepted for those goods, and every claim must be substantiated by the advertiser before publication. The creator’s script cannot go one step past what the registration supports.
Two further points from the Therapeutic Goods Regulations 1990: therapeutic goods without an exemption, approval or authority under the Act must not be advertised to consumers at all, and scheduled substances sit outside consumer advertising. The boundary between a cosmetic and a therapeutic good is not always obvious from the shelf, so when in doubt, a quick check with the brand’s regulatory contact before briefing creators is the cheapest compliance step available.
Why a Paid Creator Cannot Share Their Own Results
Section 24 of the Code prohibits testimonials from any person engaged in the production, marketing or supply of the goods, and the Code’s own note spells out that this “includes influencers, direct sellers and other persons who have, or will receive, valuable consideration for making the testimonial”. Payment counts. Gifted product counts. A commission or affiliate cut counts.
So “this cleared my skin in two weeks” from a paid creator is not a disclosure problem, it is a prohibited statement. The same goes for progress photos, results timelines and “here’s what it did for me” storytelling about a therapeutic benefit. This is the single point most likely to be missed in a beauty or wellness brief, because personal results are the default influencer format.
Genuine testimonials from unpaid customers remain possible, with conditions. A testimonial must not be inconsistent with the label, the directions for use or the accepted indication, and any health benefit it refers to must be typical of what the goods deliver when used as directed. The advertiser must also verify the content of the testimonial and the identity of the person giving it before it runs. Family members of anyone involved in supplying the goods must have that relationship disclosed, and corporations cannot give testimonials at all.
Who Else Cannot Endorse Therapeutic Goods?
Section 24(6) of the Code bans endorsements, express or implied, from a specific list: governments and government authorities, hospitals and healthcare facilities other than community pharmacies, employees and contractors of those bodies, and organisations representing healthcare consumers or health practitioners unless the ad names the organisation and discloses any valuable consideration.
The entry that matters most for beauty and wellness brands: a current or former health practitioner, health professional or medical researcher cannot endorse therapeutic goods, and neither can anyone who represents themselves as qualified or trained to diagnose, treat or prevent disease. The cosmetic nurse reviewing a serum, the dermatologist “approving” a supplement, the self-described skin expert in a lab coat: for a therapeutic good, all of these are off the table. Note the word former. A practitioner who has left clinical work does not become available for endorsements.
What Can Creators Say in a Compliant Campaign?
Plenty, which is the part of the TGA influencer marketing rules that gets lost. A compliant creator campaign is built from four kinds of content.
First, accepted indications. Creators can communicate what the product is registered to do, in their own words, checked against the accepted wording. Second, brand-supplied claims that the brand has substantiated before publication. The brief hands creators the approved claims list and they build content around it. Third, demonstration: how to apply the product, where it fits in a routine, what the texture and format are like on camera. Fourth, honest non-therapeutic experience. Where the content makes no therapeutic claim, a creator can talk about scent, feel, packaging and how the product fits their morning, because none of that is a claim about a therapeutic benefit.
The Code’s general standards act as guardrails around all of it. An ad must not present the goods as safe or free of side effects, effective in all cases, a guaranteed cure, or magical or miraculous. It must not exaggerate performance, encourage excessive use, cause undue alarm, discourage anyone from seeking medical attention or prescribed treatment, or suggest competing goods are harmful or ineffectual. If content refers to research, the Code requires the researcher, the financial sponsor (where the advertiser knows or reasonably should know it) and a proper citation, in language the audience can actually understand. And no therapeutic goods advertising may be directed at children under 12.
A brief that hands creators the approved claims, the banned framings and the mandatory statements up front gives them room to be creative inside safe lines. That is the whole trick.
The Mandatory Statements a Brief Must Carry
These are set out in the Code word for word, and each must be prominently displayed or communicated, not buried below the fold of a caption.
| Statement | When it applies |
|---|---|
| ALWAYS READ THE LABEL AND FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS FOR USE | Any advertisement about a medicine, which must also include the medicine’s name and at least one accepted indication (section 19) |
| ALWAYS FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS FOR USE | Short form advertisements (section 17) |
| ASK YOUR PHARMACIST ABOUT THIS PRODUCT | Goods consisting of or containing a Schedule 3, Appendix H substance (section 15) |
| THIS PRODUCT IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC | Public advertising for goods only available through a health professional (section 16) |
| INCORRECT USE COULD BE HARMFUL | Advertisements about analgesics (section 23) |
One extra layer for shoppable content. Where an advertisement directly facilitates the purchase of a medicine that cannot be physically inspected first, and the Code notes this includes ads on a website, social media or an app through which a transaction can be conducted, it must also include the dosage form, the quantity, each active ingredient, and the applicable health warnings or a link giving direct access to them. A creator post with a checkout link attached carries more obligations than the same post without one.
Extra Rules by Category
Four categories carry rules on top of everything above.
Weight management is the strictest. Ads must include prominent statements or visuals promoting a healthy energy-controlled diet and physical activity, must not suggest the goods correct or reverse the effects of overeating, and must not use visuals, statistics or testimonials inconsistent with the results an average consumer would achieve. The definition is broad: weight loss, weight control, weight maintenance, measurement reduction, clothing size reduction and hunger suppression are all captured, so “back in my old jeans” content is weight-management advertising.
Sunscreen ads that claim or imply prevention of sunburn or skin cancer must show sunscreen as only one component of sun protection, and prominently convey that prolonged high-risk sun exposure should be avoided and that frequent reapplication in line with directions is required.
Complementary medicines making claims based on traditional use must carry a prominent statement about that reliance on traditional evidence. Analgesics must carry INCORRECT USE COULD BE HARMFUL, as in the table above.
Gifting, Seeding, Samples and Giveaways
Free product is valuable consideration under the Code. A creator who receives a seeded PR package and posts about their results with a therapeutic good has given a prohibited testimonial, even though no invoice ever existed. Seeding programs for supplements, SPF and medicated skincare need the same claim discipline as paid campaigns.
Giveaways add another rule. An advertisement must not contain or offer a sample of therapeutic goods unless the goods appear in Annexure 2 of the Code, any conditions for that item are met, the goods contain no Schedule 2, 3, 4 or 8 substance, and registered goods are supplied in an accepted pack. A sample means any goods given for free, though the Code notes a “buy one, get one free” offer of the same goods is not a sample. Check before a creator runs a giveaway of a therapeutic good, not after. The Code also bans offering personal incentives or commissions to pharmacy assistants or to retail salespeople who are not health professionals in exchange for recommending the goods.
The commercial mechanics of seeding, the ACCC’s disclosure expectations and the tax treatment of gifted product have their own layer of rules, covered in our guide to influencer gifting rules in Australia.
How TGA Rules Sit Alongside ACCC Disclosure
Both regimes apply at once, and neither substitutes for the other. The ACCC’s position on social media promotions is that businesses must not make false or misleading claims on social media, and that posts a business incentivises an influencer to make are subject to the same consumer law rules as any other advertising. Its example is blunt: a hotel paying an influencer to post positive reviews of a resort the influencer never visited is likely to be false, misleading or deceptive.
The point marketers miss: disclosure does not cure a prohibited testimonial. A paid creator describing their results with a therapeutic good under a clearly labelled ad is still in breach of the Code. The label just documents it. The ACCC also holds businesses responsible for false or misleading comments and posts others make on their pages, so a fully compliant post can still accumulate a comments section full of glowing customer results that the brand is expected to moderate. For the wider legal picture across platforms, disclosure and advertising law, see our pillar on Australia’s social media and advertising laws.
A Compliance Checklist for the Creator Brief
Lift these straight into the next brief.
- Confirm with the brand’s regulatory contact whether the product is a therapeutic good and exactly which indications are accepted in the Register.
- Write out the approved claims in plain language, substantiated before the brief is issued, and instruct creators to stay inside them.
- State plainly that creators must not describe their own results or therapeutic experience with the product, in content, captions, comments or replies, and explain that gifted product triggers the same rule.
- List the banned framings: safe, side-effect free, guaranteed, works for everyone, miraculous, and comparisons that paint other products as harmful or ineffectual.
- Include the mandatory statements word for word and specify where each appears in every format, including Stories and short video.
- For shoppable posts about medicines, add the dosage form, quantity, active ingredients and health warnings or a direct link to them.
- Screen the creator list against section 24(6): no current or former health practitioners, health professionals or medical researchers, and no one presenting as qualified to diagnose or treat.
- Require pre-publication approval of every deliverable, and set a plan for monitoring and moderating comments after posting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does gifted product count as payment under the TGA rules?
Yes. The Code’s note to its testimonial ban covers influencers and anyone else who has received, or will receive, valuable consideration for making the testimonial, and free product is valuable consideration. A creator seeded with a supplement or medicated skincare product cannot post about their own results with it, exactly as if they had been paid in cash. Brief seeded creators with the same approved claims list as paid ones.
Can a dermatologist or nurse appear in a skincare campaign?
Not endorsing a therapeutic good. Section 24(6) blocks endorsements from current or former health practitioners, health professionals and medical researchers, and from anyone who represents themselves as qualified to diagnose, treat or prevent disease. For genuinely cosmetic products making no therapeutic claims, the Code is not engaged, but the moment the product or the content crosses into therapeutic territory, practitioner endorsement is off the table.
Can a creator say a product feels great on their skin?
Where the content makes no therapeutic claim, yes. Texture, scent, how it sits under makeup, where it fits in a routine: none of that asserts a therapeutic benefit. The line is crossed when the creator connects the product to results, such as clearing acne, fading scarring or fixing a condition. A good brief draws that line explicitly so creators know which of their usual formats are available.
Do Stories and short videos need mandatory statements too?
Yes. The Code requires short form advertisements to prominently carry ALWAYS FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS FOR USE, and advertisements about medicines to carry the medicine’s name, an accepted indication and ALWAYS READ THE LABEL AND FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS FOR USE. Prominence matters: a statement viewers cannot realistically see or hear in the format does not meet the requirement, so plan on-screen text or voiceover per format in the brief.
What if the campaign touches a serious health condition?
Stop and check first. Under Part 8 of the Code, representations about serious forms of a disease, condition, ailment or defect are restricted representations, and they need approval or permission under the Act before they can be used in advertising. Unless the brand holds that permission, creators should be briefed to stay away from serious disease claims entirely, including implied ones in captions and hashtags.
Compliant Campaigns Come Down to the Brief
Every rule above lands in the same place: the creator brief. When the brief carries the approved claims, the banned framings, the mandatory statements and the right creator screening, compliance stops being a nervous review at the end and becomes the structure the content is made inside.
That is how Australia Experiences runs it. We manage creator campaigns end to end for Australian brands and build compliance requirements into the brief and the creator agreement rather than leaving them to chance. We coordinate, creators produce, and the brand’s regulatory advisers stay the authority on the legal call, because we are not lawyers and this article is general information, not legal advice. For beauty, skincare and wellness brands weighing up creator campaigns under these rules, our beauty and cosmetics influencer marketing page covers how we approach the category.
The TGA influencer marketing rules do not close the channel. They reward the brands that brief properly, and those campaigns run with confidence.
Sources
- Australian Government Federal Register of Legislation, Therapeutic Goods (Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code) Instrument 2021: the advertising standards, testimonial and endorsement prohibitions, mandatory statements, sample rules and category-specific requirements cited throughout this article.
- Australian Government Federal Register of Legislation, Therapeutic Goods Regulations 1990: the therapeutic goods that must not be advertised to consumers.
- ACCC, Social media promotions: consumer law obligations for incentivised influencer posts and business responsibility for third-party comments.