TGA advertising rules for supplements: the Code, influencers and penalties

What counts as advertising, and who the rules bind

The Act's definition is wide. To advertise a therapeutic good includes making "any statement, pictorial representation or design that is intended, whether directly or indirectly, to promote the use or supply of the goods", including on the label, on the package and on any material included with it. So a website, an online store, a post on Instagram or TikTok and the pack itself can all be advertising.

The Code binds every advertiser: "a person who: (a) advertises, by any means, therapeutic goods; or (b) causes the advertising, by any means, of therapeutic goods." On social media, in the TGA's words, "the same rules apply to: a business' posts on its own social media accounts; social media posts that a business pays for; advertising by any other person on social media platforms."

Two limits on the Code's reach:

• Advertising directed only at health professionals, and the others named in section 42AA of the Act, is outside the Code. What that means for a practitioner-only range.
• The label has its own rules. It is advertising under the Act, but some of the Code's requirements, including the statements an ad must carry and the rule on citing research, don't apply to the label itself, which follows TGO 116. See the label rules.

The Code's core rules

The Therapeutic Goods (Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code) Instrument 2021 sets the rules. The main ones for a supplement:

• Accurate, balanced and substantiated. An ad must "be accurate, balanced and not misleading or likely to be misleading" and "only contain information that is substantiated by the advertiser prior to publication or dissemination" (section 8).
• Consistent with the ARTG. It "must not be inconsistent with any indication or intended purpose accepted in relation to the inclusion of the goods in the Register" (section 8). For a listed medicine, that means its permitted indications: see what a listed medicine can claim.
• Not safe, guaranteed or miraculous. An ad can't represent the goods as "safe, or without harm or side-effects", "effective in all cases, or a guaranteed cure", or "infallible, unfailing, magical or miraculous" (section 9).
• No fear, no exaggeration. It can't cause "undue alarm, fear or distress", or exaggerate "the efficacy or performance of the goods" (section 9).
• Fair comparisons. It can't compare the goods with other therapeutic goods or services in a way that suggests those are "harmful or ineffectual" (section 9).
• Science, cited properly. A scientific or clinical claim must "be consistent with the body of scientific or clinical evidence applicable to the goods". An ad that refers to research must identify the researcher, the research's financial sponsor where the advertiser knows or ought to know it, and the research itself, by a citation good enough for consumers to find it (section 11).
• Never "TGA approved". The TGA says advertisers "must not use terms such as 'TGA approved' or 'TGA registered' in therapeutic goods advertising, including on labels or packaging", nor the TGA's logo or the Commonwealth Coat of Arms. An assessed listed medicine can carry "TGA assessed" on its label, and an ad can show it only on the label in a pack shot; a listed medicine can't use it at all. See the "TGA assessed" claim.
• Samples and incentives. An ad can't contain or offer a free sample, except in the cases the Code allows (goods named in its Annexure 2), and can't offer a pharmacy assistant, or a retail salesperson who isn't a health professional, a personal incentive or commission for recommending or supplying the goods (sections 25 and 26).

What an ad must say

Most advertising for a medicine must contain, under section 19:

1. The medicine's name, as TGO 116 defines it (TGO 92 until the Code was amended on 30 September 2026).
2. One or more of its accepted indications.
3. "ALWAYS READ THE LABEL AND FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS FOR USE", prominently displayed or communicated. A short-form ad carries "ALWAYS FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS FOR USE" instead (section 17).

An online store, or any ad that lets someone buy a medicine they can't inspect first, must also give the dosage form, the quantity, each active ingredient and, where the medicine has health warnings, the warnings or a link that goes straight to them. A health warning here is a warning, contra-indication, precaution or restriction that the medicine's label must carry and that is "reasonably necessary to inform a decision of a consumer to purchase the medicine".

Testimonials, endorsements and influencers

The TGA draws the line between the two. "A testimonial is a statement about a therapeutic good made by a person who claims to have used that good personally", or to have used it while caring for someone else. "An endorsement is a form of support, approval or sanction."

Testimonials. An ad can't use a testimonial from anyone "engaged in the production, marketing or supply of the goods", and the Code's note says that includes "influencers, direct sellers and other persons who have, or will receive, valuable consideration for making the testimonial". Nor from an undisclosed member of their immediate family, a person in one of the first five groups excluded from endorsing (below), or a corporation. Any health benefit a testimonial mentions must be typical of what the goods deliver when used as the label directs, and the advertiser must verify both the content and the identity of the person making it (section 24).

What counts as payment. The TGA's examples of valuable consideration: "cash payment", "provision of services", "gifts", "discounts on product", "free product", "flights", "accommodation" and a "promise of future benefit". A sale or discount offered to all customers equally, and not tied to giving a testimonial, isn't one. Or, as the TGA puts it to influencers: "You cannot share your personal experience of using the product if you receive any payment or reward in exchange."

Endorsements. Under section 24, no endorsement may come from:

1. a government or government authority, unless the Act or Regulations allow it;
2. a hospital or healthcare facility, other than a community pharmacy;
3. the employees or contractors of either;
4. "a current or former health practitioner, health professional or medical researcher";
5. a person who represents themselves as qualified or trained to diagnose, treat or prevent disease;
6. an organisation representing the interests of healthcare consumers, or of the people in group 4, unless the ad names it and says whether it has received, or will receive, anything for the endorsement.

Influencers can still advertise. In the TGA's guidance, "social media influencers, bloggers and brand ambassadors can endorse therapeutic goods even if they have received valuable consideration for the endorsement", as long as they aren't in one of the excluded groups and the payment is disclosed: the TGA's example is words like "paid partnership" in the post. What they can't do is tell their own story of using the product.

Social media and reviews

• Your page, your responsibility. "Business owners are responsible for the content of any social media page created or managed by them, including third-party comments." A comment from someone claiming to have used the product is a testimonial, and "when an endorsement or testimonial is made on (or linked to) your content, it becomes a part of your advertising."
• Sharing counts. The TGA says liking a post on LinkedIn, re-posting on X or tagging a website or account "may be considered a type of sharing/resharing".
• Paid posts. Where advertising is paid for and posted on a business's behalf, the business "may be responsible for any non-compliance".
• Reviews. Writing fake or misleading reviews, or leaving out genuine negative ones to skew perception, "is deceptive advertising and against the law."

Restricted and prohibited representations

A restricted representation refers to a serious form of a disease, condition, ailment or defect: one that requires "a health professional to diagnose, follow-up or treat". It can only be used with the TGA's prior approval, applied for through its Regulatory and Compliance portal, or under a permission the TGA has granted (a permission can't be applied for). Prohibited representations, such as claims about treating cancer, are listed in Part 1 of Schedule 2 of the Therapeutic Goods Regulations 1990 and can't be applied for, though the TGA can permit one in a specific ad where public health or the appropriate use of the goods needs it. More in our claims and indications guide.

No pre-approval: what the TGA can do instead

Since 1 July 2020, medicine ads in specified media no longer need the TGA's approval before they run. The rules didn't change: the advertiser checks its own ads, and the TGA acts after the fact. Its tools range from an educational or warning letter, a substantiation notice and a direction to withdraw or correct an ad, to a public warning notice, suspension or cancellation of the ARTG entry, an infringement notice, an enforceable undertaking, civil proceedings and prosecution.

Measure	The maximum
Infringement notice for non-compliant advertising	12 penalty units for an individual, 60 for a company: $4,368 and $21,840 at $364 a unit
Criminal offence where using the goods as advertised results, or is likely to result, in harm or injury	5 years' imprisonment or 4,000 penalty units, or both
Criminal offence for intentional non-compliance	12 months' imprisonment or 1,000 penalty units, or both
Strict liability offence	100 penalty units

A company can face up to five times the penalty units for an offence. A Commonwealth penalty unit has been $364 since 1 July 2026 (for offences from that date). In civil proceedings, section 42DLB of the Act carries a maximum of 5,000 penalty units for an individual and 50,000 for a company for each contravention, as the Federal Court set out in 2021.

The TGA uses these powers. In 2024–25 it gave 30 infringement notices, mostly for alleged unlawful advertising, and asked online platforms to remove over 13,700 alleged unlawful advertisements or user and seller profiles. From July to December 2025 it gave over 75, again mostly for alleged unlawful advertising, and completed a second targeted campaign on compliance by influencers, particularly on social media.

What changed in 2026

• The Code now points to TGO 116. From 30 September 2026, the amending instrument (F2026L01329) replaced the Code's references to TGO 92 with TGO 116, the new labelling standard for non-prescription medicines, in the rules on what an ad must say. See TGO 92 is now TGO 116.
• Changes under consultation. The TGA consulted on "Improvements to the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code" from 9 July to 3 September 2026: "It is not a full review of the Code." Its proposals include defining "prominently displayed or communicated" to include "standing out", and continuing to prohibit paid testimonials for therapeutic sunscreens. No outcome had been published by 22 October 2026.

Foods and cosmetics

A supplement sold as a food isn't advertised under the TGA's Code. Its health claims must follow Standard 1.2.7 of the Food Standards Code, which state and territory agencies and local councils enforce, and the Australian Consumer Law applies to every claim: the ACCC and state and territory consumer authorities enforce it, and food businesses "must not make false or misleading claims". See supplements as foods.

A cosmetic's claims stay with appearance, cleansing, odour and keeping the skin in good condition; a claim to treat a condition makes it a therapeutic good, advertised under the Code. See medicine, food or cosmetic? and skincare.

Where we come in

The same rules cover your website, your Instagram and your TikTok as your label. So we check the claims at the brief, and build the evidence for them alongside the formula, so the label and the marketing say the same thing from day one. For EverLeanBody and Your Skin Scan we built the claims evidence and handled the label's compliance; on Arxi's prenatal, our label review caught two errors before print. More on formulation and packaging and labelling, or book a call.