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Independent ethics and professionalism CPD for Australian health practitioners

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Program · 4 courses · about 12 hours

Practice Compliance Program: Advertising, Cosmetic, Telehealth and Privacy

The rules that apply to how a practice markets itself, runs cosmetic procedures, consults online and handles patient information, explained for the people who make those decisions.

  • 4 courses in one program
  • About 12 hours of learning
  • Save A$309
  • A certificate for each course

See price and enrol Courses in this program

Wooden blocks labelled rules, compliance, law, standards and policies

The compliance areas that changed fastest

Advertising, cosmetic practice, telehealth and privacy have one thing in common: the rules around them have changed significantly in recent years, and a practice can breach them without any clinical error at all. A testimonial on a website, a before-and-after photo, an asynchronous online questionnaire used to prescribe, a patient record sent to the wrong address: each is a compliance problem that sits outside the consulting room but can lead to a notification, enforcement action or a privacy complaint.

This program covers the four areas together because in modern practice they overlap. A cosmetic clinic advertises on social media, consults by video and stores images; a telehealth service markets online and handles records across state borders. Understanding all four lets you spot problems where they meet.

The program is written for decision-makers as much as clinicians. Each course ends with tools you can apply to your own website, consent paperwork, telehealth workflow and privacy procedures, so you can find and fix issues before a patient, competitor or regulator does.

Who it is for

  • Practice owners, principals and directors who are responsible for advertising, policies and systems.
  • Practitioners who advertise their services online, on social media or through an agency.
  • Medical practitioners, nurses and nurse practitioners, dental practitioners and others who perform or prescribe for cosmetic procedures.
  • Practitioners working for telehealth or online prescribing services, or offering video and phone consultations in their own practice.
  • Practice managers and staff who handle records, privacy requests and data breaches.
  • Practitioners with a notification or enforcement concern about advertising, cosmetic practice, telehealth prescribing or privacy.

Price summary

  • Bought separatelyA$1,236
  • Program priceA$927
  • You saveA$30925% off the full price
OrderCourseLengthPrice on its own
1Advertising a Regulated Health Service: Applying the Ahpra Advertising GuidelinesAbout 3 hoursA$309
2Cosmetic Procedures: Ethical, Professional and Advertising Standards inAbout 3 hoursA$309
3Telehealth and Online Prescribing: Standards for Australian PractitionersAbout 3 hoursA$309
4Privacy, Health Records and My Health Record in Australian PracticeAbout 3 hoursA$309
Total if bought separatelyA$1,236
Program priceA$927

Prices in AUD, including GST. You can also buy any course on its own.

The four courses

Self-paced courses, each with an assessment, a certificate of completion and audit tools you can use straight away.

Suggested order and what each course adds

  1. Advertising a Regulated Health Service

    Start with section 133 of the National Law and the Guidelines for advertising a regulated health service. You learn what counts as advertising, who is responsible when an agency or employer writes it, how to separate lawful comments from prohibited testimonials, what evidence a claim needs, how to describe titles and experience, and when TGA rules and consumer law add further limits. You finish with a ten-point advertising audit.

  2. Cosmetic Procedures: Ethical, Professional and Advertising Standards

    Builds on the advertising rules for the area with the strictest requirements. You learn which guidelines apply to your profession, when a prescriber must consult, how to screen for body dysmorphic disorder and decline gracefully, cooling-off and under-18 rules, procedure, financial and image consent, safe settings and aftercare, and how to market without testimonials, influencer content or references to prescription-only products.

  3. Telehealth and Online Prescribing

    Covers when telehealth is clinically suitable, Board expectations on prescribing after a real-time consultation, why asynchronous prescribing for new patients is a problem, drugs of dependence across state borders, identity, location and consent checks, AI scribes, images, records, conflicts of interest in telehealth business models and Medicare telehealth eligibility.

  4. Privacy, Health Records and My Health Record

    Finishes with the information rules that apply to every service: which Commonwealth, state and territory laws apply, the Australian Privacy Principles in practice, disclosures to families, insurers, employers and police, data breach response and notification, privacy complaints, retention, and the rules for viewing and using My Health Record.

Quick compliance check

Question to ask about your practiceCourse that answers it
Do we display or share any patient testimonials or reviews about clinical care?Advertising
Do our titles and "specialist" wording match the public register?Advertising
Are offers, discounts or gifts in our advertising lawful?Advertising
Do our cosmetic consultations include screening, cooling-off and written cost estimates?Cosmetic Procedures
Do any posts name or picture prescription-only cosmetic injectables?Cosmetic Procedures
Is anyone prescribing from a questionnaire without a real-time consultation?Telehealth
Do we confirm identity and location at the start of every telehealth consultation?Telehealth
Do we know what to do in the first hours of a data breach?Privacy
Do staff understand when they may view a patient's My Health Record?Privacy

Tools and evidence you build

  • A ten-point advertising audit checklist, a practice advertising policy approach and model rewrites for offers, titles, review responses and claims.
  • A one-page pre-procedure checklist for cosmetic work covering scope, prescribing, screening, consent, cooling-off, facility and aftercare.
  • A telehealth quick-reference guide and a ten-point telehealth self-audit you can repeat.
  • Privacy decision tables and checklists for your practice procedures and staff training.
  • Reflective accounts on your own risks in each area and four certificates of completion.

For a practice owner, running the audits and recording what you changed is often more valuable than the certificates, because it shows a compliant system rather than individual knowledge. For more on the issues behind these notifications, see the advertising, cosmetic practice and privacy and confidentiality concern pages.

Overlap with other programs

The privacy course also appears in the Probity and Records Program. If you need both programs, contact us before you buy so you do not pay twice for the same course; building your own set of courses through multi-buy may work out better. Cosmetic practitioners often add Informed Consent and Financial Consent, and telehealth prescribers often add Safe Prescribing of Schedule 8 and High-Risk Medicines.

Price

The four courses cost A$927 as a program, 25% less than buying them one at a time. The saving is applied in the cart.

Training the whole team

Advertising and privacy compliance depend on everyone who writes posts, answers phones or handles records. Team licences are available for practices and health services.

Explore options for organisations

Often combined with this program.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use patient reviews in my advertising?

Section 133 prohibits using testimonials or purported testimonials about the service or business in advertising for a regulated health service. Ahpra's guidance explains that some comments, such as those about non-clinical aspects like parking or staff friendliness, may be acceptable. The Advertising course works through the distinctions.

Who is responsible if a marketing agency writes our advertising?

The obligations under section 133 apply to any person who advertises a regulated health service, and practitioners whose services are advertised remain responsible for checking compliance. Briefing your agency and approving content before it goes live is essential.

Which cosmetic guidelines apply to me?

Medical practitioners are covered by the Medical Board's cosmetic surgery and procedures guidelines. Other registered practitioners, including nurses and dental practitioners, follow the Ahpra and National Boards guidelines for non-surgical cosmetic procedures that took effect on 2 September 2025. The Cosmetic Procedures course helps you identify which apply.

What changed for advertising cosmetic injectables?

Guidelines for advertising higher-risk non-surgical cosmetic procedures took effect on 2 September 2025. They cover advertising content, audiences including young people, influencers, images and the information practitioners must give about themselves. TGA rules separately restrict advertising of prescription-only medicines to the public.

Can I prescribe after an online questionnaire?

Board guidance expects prescribing for a patient to follow a real-time consultation, and prescribing based only on an asynchronous questionnaire for a new patient is generally not considered good practice. The Telehealth course explains the expectations and the exceptions.

What should we do if patient information is sent to the wrong person?

Contain it, assess whether it is likely to result in serious harm, and notify affected individuals and the regulator if the notifiable data breaches scheme applies. The Privacy course gives a first-hours plan and decision tables.

Is this program only for practice owners?

No. Any practitioner who advertises, provides telehealth, works in cosmetic practice or handles records benefits. Owners and managers get the most from the audit tools.

Does this replace legal advice?

No. It is education about the rules and how to apply them. For specific situations, especially enforcement or a notification, get advice from your insurer or lawyer.

Primary sources

Links go to official regulator and government websites. Check them for the current version before relying on any requirement.

Program price

A$927Full price A$1,236

You save A$309 (25%)

  • 4 courses, in a suggested order
  • About 12 hours, self-paced online
  • A certificate for each course
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Prices in AUD, including GST.

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