Compliance, in plain English

Is it AHPRA compliant to ask patients for Google reviews?

The short answer: yes, when the ask is neutral. The National Law prohibits testimonials in your advertising, meaning positive statements about clinical care that you publish or reuse in your own marketing. It does not prohibit a patient leaving their own review on Google, and it does not prohibit you inviting them to. The three rules that keep a dental practice safe: never prompt for comments about treatment or outcomes, never offer anything in return, and never filter who gets asked. The first protects you under AHPRA's rules. The other two are Google and ACCC territory, and they are enforced.

General information, not legal advice. Sources linked at the bottom of this page. Current as of July 2026.

What the testimonial ban actually covers

Section 133 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law makes it an offence to advertise a regulated health service in a way that uses testimonials. AHPRA's advertising guidelines define a testimonial as a recommendation or positive statement about the clinical aspects of care, used in advertising. Both halves matter.

Clinical aspectsmeans the substance of care: symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, outcomes, or the practitioner's skill. A patient writing "Dr Smith's implant changed my life" is clinical. A patient writing "friendly team, always on time, easy parking" is not.

In advertisingmeans content you publish or control: your website, your social media, your ads. A review sitting on Google is a patient's statement on a platform you do not control. AHPRA is explicit that you are not responsible for it and not required to chase its removal. It only becomes your advertising, and potentially your breach, when you copy it into your own marketing.

What you can and cannot do

Action	OK?	Why
Ask a patient, neutrally, to share their experience on Google	Yes	Not a testimonial. The prohibition covers your advertising, not a patient's own review.
Show your aggregate star rating as a factual statement	Yes	A number is not a clinical claim. Link it to your Google profile.
Quote a review about friendliness, communication or booking	Yes	Non-clinical content is not a testimonial under AHPRA's definition.
Quote a review that mentions treatment or outcomes in your marketing	No	Republishing it makes it your advertising: prohibited testimonial under s133.
Prompt patients to describe their treatment or results	No	You are soliciting clinical testimonials. Keep the ask neutral.
Offer a discount, gift or prize draw for a review	No	Prohibited by Google's review policy; ACCC treats undisclosed incentives as misleading.
Filter who gets asked, or divert unhappy patients away from Google	No	Review gating. Prohibited by Google's policy and actively enforced.
Worry about unsolicited reviews mentioning clinical care on Google	No	AHPRA is explicit: you are not responsible for platforms you do not control.

The questions practices ask

Can my practice ask patients to leave a Google review?

Yes. The National Law's testimonial prohibition applies to what you publish in your advertising, not to a patient leaving their own review on a platform you do not control. A neutral invitation, such as asking a patient to share their experience on Google, does not breach the prohibition. The invitation must not prompt them to comment on treatment or outcomes.

Are we responsible for what patients write in their Google reviews?

No. AHPRA's guidance is explicit that advertisers are not responsible for removing testimonials published on platforms they do not control. A patient who mentions their treatment in an unsolicited Google review has not put your practice in breach. The breach happens if you then reuse that review in your own advertising.

Can we quote our Google reviews on our website or social media?

Only if the quoted content has no clinical aspects. The moment you republish a review in your own marketing, it becomes your advertising, and a review that mentions symptoms, diagnosis, treatment or outcomes becomes a prohibited testimonial. Comments about friendliness, communication or the ease of booking are generally fine to use. When in doubt, run it through AHPRA's testimonial tool or leave it on Google.

Can we show our star rating, like 4.8 on Google?

Displaying an aggregate rating as a plain factual statement with a link to your profile is generally accepted, because a number is not a statement about clinical care. Pairing it with quoted clinical praise is where it becomes a testimonial problem.

Can we offer a discount or gift for leaving a review?

Do not do it. Google's review policy prohibits incentivised reviews outright and enforcement removes them. The ACCC treats undisclosed incentivised reviews as misleading conduct under Australian Consumer Law. In a health setting an incentive also sits uncomfortably close to advertising inducement territory. There is no version of this that is worth the risk.

Can we send unhappy patients to a private feedback form instead of Google?

No. That practice is called review gating and Google's policy prohibits it: filtering who gets asked, or routing negative sentiment away from Google while pushing positive sentiment toward it, can get reviews removed and profiles restricted. Ask every patient the same way.

Didn't the testimonial ban get lifted?

No. Amendments proposed in 2022 would have lifted the ban, but the parliamentary committee recommended holding off until AHPRA's cosmetic surgery review work was complete, and the prohibition in section 133 remains in force as of mid 2026. If it is repealed in future, the practical guidance on this page barely changes: neutral asks, no incentives, no gating remain the safe and effective approach under Google and ACCC rules regardless.

Compliant asking, done for you.

These rules are exactly why our review service exists: neutral asks, no incentives, no gating, replies handled, built for independent dental practices in Adelaide. Start with a free snapshot of where your practice stands.

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