Cosmetic Nurses Association: Guidelines on Advertising

Purpose
The purpose of this guideline is to provide cosmetic nurses information on what is expected when advertising a regulated health service.

Scope
This guideline is applicable to cosmetic nurses providing non-surgical cosmetic treatments within Australia.

Guideline
Advertising material, including print, televised, radio, clinic websites and social media channels, must comply with the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (National Law) and Guidelines for advertising regulated health services issued by the Medical Board of Australian and administered by the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA). Furthermore, the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s Advertising Code must be adhered to.

What is expected:

  • A person must not advertise a regulated health service, or a business that provides a regulated health service, in a way that—
    • is false, misleading or deceptive or is likely to be misleading or deceptive; or
    • offers a gift, discount or other inducement to attract a person to use the service or the business, unless the advertisement also states the terms and conditions of the offer; or
    • uses testimonials or purported testimonials specifically detailing aspects of clinical care relating to the regulated health service. The Testimonial tool published on the AHPRA website has further information on what is considered a testimonial in breach of the National Law; or
    • creates an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment; or
    • directly or indirectly encourages the indiscriminate or unnecessary use of regulated health services.
  • Not glamorising procedures by understanding the complexity of a procedure, overstating results or implying the audience can achieve outcomes that are not realistic.
  • Not making unfair or inaccurate comparisons between the procedure provided and those of colleagues.
  • Not make mention of any medication names including indirectly through hashtags.
  • Not use titles such as ‘specialist’, ‘specialises in’, ‘specialty’, ‘specialised’. Advertising that uses the words, or variations of the words or phrases ‘specialist’, ‘specialises in’, ‘specialty’, or ‘specialised’ implies the practitioner holds specialty registration and is likely to mislead the public if the practitioner does not hold specialist registration. These words or phrases should be used with caution. Words such as ‘substantial experience in’ or ‘working primarily in’ are less likely to be misleading.
  • Comply with confidentiality and privacy obligations.
  • Communicate professionally and respectfully with or about patients, colleagues and employers.

The National Boards and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) have implemented an ‘Advertising Compliance and Enforcement’ strategy. Information about this strategy can be found here.

Information about acceptable advertising and the National Law can be found at www.ahpra.gov.au/checkandcorrect including:

  • Examples of unacceptable advertising;
  • Tips and words to be wary about;
  • A summary of your advertising obligations; and
  • Information on what is an inappropriate claim of benefit.

References

Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (2019a). Advertising compliance and enforcement strategy for the National Scheme. https://www.ahpra.gov.au/documents/default.aspx?record=WD17%2f23116&dbid=AP&chksum=MVfbTf4nBIwpK6WNXyeVmA%3d%3d

Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (2019b). Check and correct your advertising. https://www.ahpra.gov.au/publications/advertising-resources/check-and-correct.aspx

Health Practitioner Regulation National Law: https://www.ahpra.gov.au/About-AHPRA/What-We-Do/Legislation.aspx