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New Therapeutic & Health Advertising Code

What Osteopaths Need to Know

Written by Anj Young (Jan 2016)



From 1 April 2026, the Advertising Standards Authority’s updated Therapeutic and Health Advertising Code will start applying to new advertising, and from 1 July 2026 it will apply to all therapeutic and health advertising in Aotearoa New Zealand. This page explains what the changes mean for osteopaths in practice and where to find support.​

Osteopaths must also meet the Osteopathic Council of New Zealand’s standards for professional conduct and communication, including ensuring information provided to the public is honest, accurate and not misleading.

Key changes for osteopaths

The updated Code:

  • Clarifies the definition of health professionals, explicitly aligning it with practitioners regulated under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003, which includes osteopaths.​

  • Provides clearer guidance on vulnerable audiences, such as children and people with serious or mental health conditions, and requires a high standard of social responsibility in advertising to these groups.​

  • Tightens expectations around therapeutic claims, testimonials, and user‑generated content, including what can and cannot be said about treatment outcomes.​

These requirements sit alongside OCNZ’s Code of Conduct and related policies on medical advertising and ethical communication.

Testimonials, reviews and Google

The Code continues to prohibit the use of therapeutic testimonials in advertising, even when they are genuine, accurate and patient‑initiated. For osteopaths, this means:​

  • You may use patient feedback about service experience (professionalism, communication, clinic environment), provided it does not claim or imply symptom resolution, cure, or diagnosis.

  • You must not use testimonials in your own advertising that state or strongly imply a therapeutic outcome, such as “my chronic pain is gone” or “this treatment fixed my back injury”.​

Google and Facebook reviews:

  • Patients may leave independent reviews on third‑party platforms, such as Google Business Profiles. The risk arises when you adopt those reviews into advertising you control (for example, copying them to your website, brochures, or social media).​

  • When inviting reviews, it is safest to guide patients to comment on their experience of your service rather than treatment outcomes. Avoid prompting patients to describe diagnoses, “cures”, or specific symptom changes.

Practical steps for your clinic

To stay compliant with the ASA Code and OCNZ expectations:

  • Review your website and social media for testimonials or case stories that describe symptom relief, cures, or specific health outcomes, and remove or re‑word content that makes therapeutic claims you cannot substantiate within the Code’s framework.​

  • Use service‑focused review requests, for example: “If you’ve found our care helpful, we’d appreciate a Google review about your experience of our service – such as our communication, professionalism or clinic environment.”

  • Respond neutrally to online reviews and avoid repeating or endorsing therapeutic claims in your replies (e.g. “Thank you for your feedback, we appreciate you taking the time to leave a review”).​

  • Check mandatory information requirements for any advertisements about your services and ensure the required details are clear, legible and easy to find.​

These actions support both Code compliance and your professional obligations to provide honest, accurate information and maintain public trust.

Support and resources

Members do not need to navigate these changes alone. ONZ will continue to work with the ASA and OCNZ as the Code is implemented and will update this page as further guidance becomes available.​

Key resources:

If you have questions about a specific advertisement, social media campaign, or use of reviews, please contact ONZ for advice or to discuss your situation in more detail.​

The updated Therapeutic and Health Advertising Code applies to new advertising from 1 April 2026 and to all therapeutic and health advertising from 1 July 2026. See ASA

Yes. The Code applies to all therapeutic and health advertising in any media, including your website, social media channels, email marketing, print material, and any other advertising you create or control. See ASA

Yes. You may invite patients to leave a Google review, but you should guide them to comment on their experience of your service (e.g. communication, professionalism, clinic environment) rather than specific treatment outcomes or “cures”. See ASA.

ou must not copy or feature that review in advertising you control (website, brochures, posts). In your reply, thank them for their feedback but avoid repeating or endorsing the therapeutic claim. See ASA Guidance on Note Taking

You generally cannot delete Google reviews yourself. The key is that you do not republish or promote reviews containing therapeutic claims in your own advertising, and you avoid endorsing those claims in your responses. See ASA.

No. Testimonials in advertising for health services must not suggest that the service has beneficially affected an individual’s health or resolved a condition, even if the story is genuine and accurate.

Yes, provided they do not imply a therapeutic purpose. Feedback about professionalism, communication, access, or clinic environment can be used, as long as it does not stray into claims about diagnosis, cure, or symptom relief.

Osteopaths must comply with both the ASA Codes and the Osteopathic Council of New Zealand’s Code of Conduct and advertising‑related policies, which require that public information is honest, accurate, and not misleading, and does not create unrealistic expectations.

Audit your website and social media for testimonials or statements that describe symptom relief, cures, or specific health outcomes; adjust or remove non‑compliant content; and update your review requests and templates to focus on service experience

Members can contact ONZ with questions about specific advertisements or campaigns. For detailed rules, refer to the ASA Therapeutic and Health Advertising Code and the ASA Guidance Note on Advertising Health Services, alongside OCNZ’s Code of Conduct and policies.