Australian advertising rules
What are the advertising rules for lawyers in Australia?
Rule 36 and the Australian Consumer Law apply everywhere; personal injury limits and claim farming bans depend on the state. The full map, state by state.
By Santiago Alvarez, Founder, Ad Hoc Digital
Last updated
The short answer
If you read one part of this page, read this.
Australian law firm advertising answers to two sets of rules everywhere: the solicitors' conduct rules (rule 36 of the Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules: nothing false, misleading, deceptive, offensive or prohibited by law, and no misleading "specialist" claims) and the Australian Consumer Law, which takes a testimonial to be misleading unless evidence is adduced to the contrary.
Beyond those, the state matters. Queensland and the Northern Territory limit personal injury ads to name, contact details and practice area, and Queensland, NSW and the ACT have banned claim farming. Google's Local Services Ads isn't offered in Australia, so the paid options are search ads and social ads, inside these rules.
This is a plain summary for marketing planning, not legal advice. Check the current rule with your bar or law society. We work with law firms across the US and Canada, and also in Australia and the UK.
The layers
Every Australian law firm ad sits under the conduct rules and the consumer law, and some sit under state statutes too.
There's no single advertising code for Australian lawyers. Four layers stack up, and which ones bite depends on the state and the practice area.
- Legal profession legislation
Decides who may advertise legal services at all and who may call themselves a lawyer. In NSW, Victoria and WA that's the Legal Profession Uniform Law; the other states and territories have their own legal profession Acts.
- The solicitors' conduct rules
Rule 36 of the Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules, adopted in every state and territory, sets the general advertising standard. A breach is a professional conduct matter for the regulator.
- The Australian Consumer Law
Sections 18 and 29 apply to anyone in trade or commerce, law firms included. The Queensland Law Society adds section 34, misleading conduct about the nature of services, to the list that applies to solicitor advertising.
- State personal injury and claim farming laws
Criminal offences, with penalty units, that apply in some states only. These are the rules that change what a personal injury firm can run, and where.
The practical effect: a family law firm in Melbourne mostly works with the first three layers. A personal injury firm with offices in Sydney and Brisbane works with all four, and the fourth is different on each side of the border.
The Uniform Law
The Uniform Law controls who may advertise legal practice and who may use titles like "lawyer".
The Uniform Law has no general advertising section. Its two marketing provisions are about entitlement, plus one costs provision firms rarely think about.
The Legal Services Council says the Uniform Law replaced the old Acts in NSW and Victoria on 1 July 2015 and in Western Australia on 1 July 2022. Under section 11, an entity must not advertise or represent that it's entitled to engage in legal practice unless it's a qualified entity, with a maximum of 250 penalty units. A director, employee or agent who does it for the entity faces up to 50.
Section 12 protects the titles "lawyer, legal practitioner, barrister, solicitor, attorney, counsel or proctor". Using one raises a rebuttable presumption that the person represented they're entitled to engage in legal practice. This is why a lead-generation brand that calls itself "injury lawyers" without being a law practice is in trouble before anyone reads its claims.
Rule 36
Rule 36 bans false, misleading, deceptive or offensive advertising, and reserves "accredited specialist".
Every state and territory has adopted the Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules, at different dates and under different names. The advertising rule reads the same everywhere.
| Jurisdiction | Rules in force | From | Advertising rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Australia | Legal Practitioners Conduct Rules (Part A) | July 2011 | Part A follows the ASCR |
| Queensland | Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules | June 2012 | Rule 36 |
| NSW and Victoria | Legal Profession Uniform Law Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules 2015 | 1 July 2015 | Rule 36 |
| ACT | Legal Profession (Solicitors) Conduct Rules 2015 (No.2) | 1 January 2016 | Rule 36 |
| Tasmania | Legal Profession (Solicitors' Conduct) Rules 2020 | 1 October 2020 | Rule 42, marked "ASCR 36" |
| Western Australia | Uniform Law ASCR 2015 | 1 July 2022 | Rule 36 |
| Northern Territory | Australian Solicitors Conduct Rules (NT) | 1 September 2025 | Rule 36 |
Rule 36.1 says advertising, marketing or promotion in connection with the solicitor or law practice must not be false, misleading or deceptive (or likely to be), offensive, or prohibited by law. It binds the solicitor or principal, and it covers anything "in connection with" the practice, so an ad an agency runs for the firm is the principal's responsibility.
The "prohibited by law" limb is what links rule 36 to the state statutes. A Queensland personal injury ad that breaks the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act is also a conduct rule breach.
Rule 36 itself has no filing step, no required disclaimer wording and no ban on any channel. That's a real difference from US states like Florida, which our lawyer advertising rules overview compares side by side.
Consumer law
Under the Australian Consumer Law, a testimonial is taken to be misleading unless there's evidence otherwise.
Section 18 bans misleading or deceptive conduct in trade or commerce. Section 29 lists specific false or misleading representations, and the testimonial ones carry a reversed evidential burden.
- Section 29(1)(b): standard or quality of services
"Award-winning", "Sydney's trusted family lawyers" and similar claims are representations about the standard of the service. They need something true behind them.
- Section 29(1)(e) and (f): testimonials
No false or misleading representation that purports to be a testimonial, or about a testimonial. Under section 29(2), in a proceeding the testimonial is taken to be misleading unless evidence is adduced to the contrary. Section 29(3) says this doesn't put the onus of proof on anyone, but in practice, the firm needs records.
- Section 29(1)(i): price
No false or misleading representation about price. "Fixed fee" offers that leave out disbursements, or "free consultation" lines with conditions buried elsewhere, sit here.
The consumer law also applies to the agency or freelancer who writes the ad, since it binds any person in trade or commerce. For the rules on using client quotes, see our guide on testimonials; for asking clients to post Google reviews, see what the rules say about asking for reviews.
State by state
Personal injury advertising limits exist only in Queensland and the NT; claim farming bans are spreading.
This is the table to check before running any personal injury campaign in Australia. It reflects the legislation we could open on the date of this update.
| Jurisdiction | Personal injury ads | Claim farming |
|---|---|---|
| Queensland | Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 s 66: name, contact details and area of practice or speciality only, by the methods in s 65. "No win, no fee" is the Act's own example of a breach | Same Act: s 71 bans consideration for claim referrals and s 71B bans paid approaches (300 penalty units each); s 70(2) says advertising to the public isn't a claim referral |
| Northern Territory | Legal Profession Act 2006 s 290: a complying statement (name, contact details, area of speciality) by a method in s 291 | Section 292 prohibits touting for potential claimants |
| New South Wales | No ban: the Law Society of NSW says the Uniform Law and the Workers Compensation Regulation 2016 dropped the old bans | Claim Farming Practices Prohibition Act 2025, passed April 2025, which the NSW Government says makes it unlawful to pressure vulnerable people to lodge civil compensation claims; a motor accident (CTP) bill was announced in November 2025 |
| ACT | No personal injury provision in the Legal Profession Act 2006 | Civil Law (Wrongs) Act 2002 pt 15.4A from 16 May 2026: paid contact (s 221B) and referral fees (s 221C), 300 penalty units each; motor accident claims excluded |
| Victoria and WA | No personal injury provision in the Uniform Law | None in the legislation we read; check locally |
| Tasmania | No personal injury provision in the Legal Profession Act 2007 | None in the legislation we read; check locally |
| South Australia | Not confirmed today | Not confirmed today; check with the Law Society of South Australia |
Queensland's and the ACT's claim farming laws expressly carve out advertising to the public. The ACT's section 221D goes further and excludes fees relating to that advertising, which is how paying for ad spend or an agency to run ads differs from paying someone per referred claim. Our guide on paying for leads compares these bans with US and UK referral rules.
The detail for the two strictest and most misunderstood jurisdictions is in our Queensland and NT guide and our NSW guide.
"Specialist" wording
"Specialist" and "we specialise" are the words most likely to cause a rule 36.2 problem.
Rule 36.2 reserves "accredited specialist" and its derivatives for accredited specialists, and bans any misleading impression of specialist expertise.
The Queensland Law Society's guidance goes further than many firms expect. It says the Legal Services Commission's view is that the bare word "specialist" is likely a derivative of "accredited specialist", and that a claim to "specialise" is likely to be read as a claim to expertise, not just a usual area of practice.
| Wording | Risk | Safer version |
|---|---|---|
| "Family law specialists" | High: reserved word | "Family lawyers" |
| "We specialise in personal injury" | High: read as a claim to expertise | "Our practice is personal injury" |
| "Expert criminal defence team" | Medium: implies specialist expertise | "Criminal defence lawyers" |
| "Accredited Specialist (Family Law)" | Fine only for the accredited lawyer, named personally | Name the lawyer and the accrediting body |
Check the places nobody rereads: ad headlines, the Business Profile description, social bios, directory listings and image text. Our guide to ad copy under bar rules has more risky phrases and safer versions.
Platforms
Without Local Services Ads, Australian firms run Google search ads and Meta ads inside these rules.
Australia isn't one of the countries in Google's Local Services Ads help center, so there's no pay-per-lead Google listing for lawyers to apply for.
That leaves Google search ads, Meta ads, the Business Profile and AI search. All of them are open to most Australian practices. The exception is personal injury in Queensland and the NT, where our reading is that paid search and social ads aren't allowable methods at all. Our guide to Local Services Ads in Canada and the UK has the country list.
Map every campaign to a jurisdiction
Geo-target by state, not by "Australia". A personal injury campaign aimed at NSW must exclude Queensland and the NT, or it publishes there too.
Read every ad against rule 36.1
Each claim true, nothing implied about outcomes, nothing offensive about accidents, injuries or the other side.
Strip specialist wording
Headlines, sitelinks, image text and the landing page, unless the named lawyer is accredited.
Keep evidence behind numbers and testimonials
Amounts recovered, review counts and client quotes need records you could produce, because of section 29(2).
Make fee lines complete
If "no win, no fee" is lawful where you advertise, say what the client still pays if they lose.
Check every lead source
No vendor paid per referred claim and no one cold-contacting injured people for you, in any state with a claim farming law.
What we see
The problems we find are usually small words, not dramatic ads.
When we audit a firm's ads against its rules, in any country, the issues are rarely outrageous claims. They're the habits copied from other markets.
We see the same three things again and again: "specialists" in a headline, a fee line without its conditions, and a testimonial nobody can trace back to a client. In Australia, two of those three run straight into rule 36.2 and section 29(2).
We have no Australian client results to show. Outside Australia, one US personal injury client earned $82,000 in revenue from a single $250,000 settlement, a result from paid campaigns that Queensland's Act wouldn't allow but NSW law generally would, within rule 36. Our personal injury marketing page covers the channels, and our Australian marketing guide covers privacy, follow-up and the rest.
If you'd like a second set of eyes on your ads against your state's rules, schedule a consultation.
Common mistakes
Where firms go wrong.
The Australian advertising mistakes we'd check for first.
Treating Australia as one market
A national personal injury campaign publishes in Queensland and the NT, where PI ads are limited to name, contact details and practice area.
Saying "we specialise"
The QLS guidance says it's likely read as a claim to expertise. Describe the practice instead.
Testimonials without records
Under section 29(2) a testimonial is taken to be misleading unless evidence is adduced. Keep the client's permission and the source.
Copying US ad copy
"Top-rated", "aggressive" and results-led headlines written for US markets can mislead under rule 36.1 and the consumer law if nothing stands behind them.
Buying claims from a lead vendor
Queensland and the ACT ban paying for claim referrals, and NSW has its own claim farming law. Advertising to the public is the carved-out route.
Assuming the agency carries the risk
Rule 36.1 covers advertising "in connection with" the practice, so the principal answers for it whoever wrote it.
Real results
What this looked like for real firms.
A result from outside Australia (a US personal injury firm), shown for context, not as a prediction for an Australian market.
Identifying details are anonymized to protect our clients. Individual result, not a promise or prediction of any specific outcome for your firm.
FAQ
Questions lawyers ask us.
Straight answers to the questions that come up most.
Can lawyers advertise in Australia?
Yes. Advertising must meet rule 36 of the solicitors' conduct rules and the Australian Consumer Law. Personal injury advertising is limited in Queensland and the Northern Territory, and some states ban claim farming, but general advertising by a law practice is allowed everywhere.
Does rule 36 apply in every state?
Every state and territory has adopted the Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules, the NT most recently on 1 September 2025. Tasmania numbers the advertising rule 42, with the same wording, and South Australia adopted the rules as Part A of its Legal Practitioners Conduct Rules.
Can I call myself a specialist?
Only if you're an accredited specialist, and then name yourself and the accreditation, not the whole firm. The QLS says the Legal Services Commission treats the bare word "specialist" as likely a derivative of "accredited specialist", and "specialise" as a claim to expertise.
Are testimonials allowed in Australian law firm ads?
They're not banned, but section 29(2) of the Australian Consumer Law takes a testimonial to be misleading unless evidence is adduced to the contrary. Keep consent and records, and see our testimonials guide.
Can personal injury firms advertise in Australia?
In NSW, yes, within rule 36 and the consumer law. In Queensland and the NT, ads are limited to name, contact details and practice area by set methods. See our NSW guide and Queensland and NT guide.
What is claim farming?
Contacting people to sign them up for compensation claims for a fee, and paying or receiving fees for claim referrals. Queensland, NSW and the ACT have claim farming laws, and Queensland's and the ACT's expressly exclude advertising to the public. South Australia's position wasn't confirmed when we last checked.
Is Google Local Services Ads available for Australian lawyers?
No. Australia isn't among the 11 countries in Google's Local Services Ads help center. Australian firms use Google search ads, Meta ads, the Business Profile and AI search instead.
Do I need to file my ads with anyone?
Rule 36 has no filing or pre-approval step, unlike some US states. The firm is responsible for checking its own ads, and complaints go to the regulator after the fact. Our rules overview compares filing rules across countries.
Where we do this
The services this guide touches.
What this looks like when we run it for a firm, with a demo for your practice on each page.
Sources
Where these facts come from.
Official pages we read when writing this page. Platforms and rules change, so check the current version before you act on any of it. This is marketing guidance, not legal advice.
- Legal Services Council, the Uniform Law
- Western Australian Legislation, Legal Profession Uniform Law (WA)
- Law Council of Australia, Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules 2026
- Law Council of Australia, Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules (where they apply)
- Tasmanian Legislation, Legal Profession (Solicitors' Conduct) Rules 2020
- Federal Register of Legislation, Competition and Consumer Act 2010, Schedule 2 (Australian Consumer Law)
- Queensland Law Society, What are the rules about solicitors' advertising generally?
- Queensland Law Society, What are the rules about advertising as a specialist or expert?
- Law Society of NSW, Advertising legal services
- Queensland Legislation, Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002
- Northern Territory Legislation, Legal Profession Act 2006
- ACT Legislation Register, Civil Law (Wrongs) Act 2002
- ACT Legislation Register, Legal Profession Act 2006
- Tasmanian Legislation, Legal Profession Act 2007
- NSW Government, NSW Government to outlaw claim farming in motor crashes (November 20, 2025)
- Google Local Services Ads Help, Getting started with Local Services Ads
Written by
Founder of Ad Hoc Digital. Leads strategy and works directly with every client firm on AI search, Local Services Ads, Google Ads and Meta ads.
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