Queensland and NT personal injury
What may a personal injury firm advertise in Queensland and the Northern Territory?
Australia's strictest personal injury advertising laws: what an ad may say, where it may appear, what a firm's own website may explain, and the 2026 reprimand that shows how it's applied.
By Santiago Alvarez, Founder, Ad Hoc Digital
Last updated
The short answer
If you read one part of this page, read this.
In Queensland, an ad for personal injury services may state only the firm's name, contact details and area of practice or speciality, and only through the publication methods the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 allows. The Act's own example of a breach is advertising on a "no win, no fee" basis. The Northern Territory has a similar rule in its Legal Profession Act 2006.
A firm's own website gets a narrow exception: it may explain the law of negligence, a person's rights under it, and the firm's terms. Everything else promotional is risky, and in May 2026 a Queensland tribunal publicly reprimanded a personal injury principal over statements on his firm's website.
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.
What it covers
The Act catches any statement likely to encourage a personal injury claim, by anyone, anywhere online.
Section 64 isn't limited to lawyers or to ads that look like ads. It's about the effect of the statement.
Under section 64, a practitioner or anyone else, acting for a law practice or not, advertises personal injury services if they publish a statement that may reasonably be thought likely to encourage someone to make a personal injury claim, or to use a named firm for one. It doesn't matter that the statement also covers other things.
"Published" is broad. It includes print, broadcast, signs and vehicles, documents left on premises, receipts, and anything "displayed on an Internet website or otherwise publicly disseminated by means of the Internet". So it reaches websites, social media and online ads, whoever posts them, including an agency acting for a firm.
What an ad may say
Name, contact details, and area of practice or speciality. That's the whole list.
Section 66(1) limits a personal injury ad to those three things, published by an allowable method. The maximum penalty is 300 penalty units.
| Content | Fits s 66(1)? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Firm name, phone, address, website | Yes | Name and contact details |
| "Personal injury and motor vehicle accident claims" | Yes | Area of practice |
| "No win, no fee" | No | The Act's own example of a breach |
| "Free consultation" | Risky | Not name, contact details or practice area |
| "Get the compensation you deserve" | No | Encourages a claim; not in the allowed list |
| Client testimonials or results | No | Not in the allowed list, and testimonials face consumer law presumptions too |
| "Our expert team" | No | Promotional, and "expert" raises specialist-wording issues |
The reprimand reported by the Queensland Law Society's Proctor in May 2026 involved website statements including "we walk with you every step of the way", "Our expert team will guide you through your claim" and a line beginning "Free consultation" that went on to "No win no fee". The tribunal found unsatisfactory professional conduct, while noting the provisions are "difficult" and that it wasn't a serious example.
Where it may appear
Only through the methods section 65 allows, and never in or on a hospital.
The allowed methods were written for print. That's the root of the problem for online marketing.
- A printed publication.
- An online copy of a printed publication, if it reproduces the printed statement and the publication is independent of the firm.
- An online directory or database that includes the statement and is maintained independently of the firm.
- Signs on buildings, vehicles or places in view of a street or public place.
- Printed documents delivered or left on premises or vehicles, and printed receipts.
- Not allowed: public exhibition in or on a hospital, or printed material sent to, left in, or on vehicles near a hospital.
Your own website
A firm's website may explain negligence law, people's rights and the firm's terms, and little else about PI.
Section 66(2)(b) is the exception firms rely on most, and the one the tribunal said is hard to define.
Explain the law, plainly
How negligence works, what has to be shown, time limits, and the steps under PIPA. This is allowed content and it's also what people search for.
Explain people's rights
What a person may be entitled to under the law, described generally, without urging anyone to claim.
State the firm's terms factually
The exception covers the firm's terms of engagement for personal injury work. Describe them; don't sell them. "No win, no fee" as a slogan is the Act's own example of a breach.
Strip promotional lines
"We fight for you", "maximum compensation", "our expert team", testimonials and results. The tribunal found some of the reprimanded statements "quite clearly promotional in nature".
Review other practice pages too
The Act applies to statements likely to encourage a PI claim even if they also relate to other matters, so a general homepage that pushes PI claims is caught.
That approach also suits how people find firms now. Plain explanations of the law are what Google and AI tools quote. Our guide to AI search for law firms covers why clear, factual pages travel further than slogans.
Touting and claim farming
Queensland also bans touting and paying for claim referrals.
The advertising rules sit next to separate bans on approaching people at accident scenes or hospitals and on giving consideration for referrals.
- Touting (s 67)
Prohibited persons may not solicit or induce potential claimants at the scene of an incident or at a hospital afterward, and some people who learn of incidents through their work may not pass on a firm's details.
- Claim referrals (s 71)
No one may give or receive consideration for a claim referral. Section 70(2) says advertising to the public or a group isn't a claim referral, so general advertising within the rules isn't caught by this part.
Paying lead sellers or "case acquisition" services for PI claims in Queensland runs straight into section 71. Our guide on paying for leads compares the rules across jurisdictions.
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory has a similar regime in its Legal Profession Act 2006.
Section 290 makes it an offence for a practitioner to publish a statement intended to get people to claim and engage a named firm, unless it's a complying statement.
- A complying statement specifies only the name and contact details of the practitioner or firm, and details of any area of speciality.
- It must be published by a method in section 291, which lists newspaper editions, electronic copies of independent newspapers, independent online directories and other set methods.
- The maximum penalty in section 290 is 50 penalty units.
- The Northern Territory adopted the Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules in 2025, so rule 36 applies alongside the Act.
What still works
Inside these rules, the work shifts to reputation, directories and plain information.
Firms in Queensland and the NT can't buy their way to the phone ringing the way PI firms do in many US markets. What's left still matters.
- A complete Google Business Profile with accurate name, contact details and practice area, and genuine reviews collected within the consumer law rules.
- Listings in independent online directories, which section 65 allows.
- Website pages that explain the law and rights, which also feed what AI search tools say when someone asks about a claim.
- Fast, careful intake for the people who do call. See our guide to speed to lead.
- Marketing for practice areas outside personal injury, which follows the general rules in our Australian advertising rules guide.
We have no Australian client results to show you. For a sense of what personal injury marketing looks like elsewhere, one US personal injury client of ours earned $82,000 in revenue from a single $250,000 settlement. That kind of paid campaign is exactly what Queensland's Act is written to stop, which is why the plan for a Queensland firm looks different.
Common mistakes
Where firms go wrong.
Mistakes we check for when we audit a personal injury firm's marketing against Queensland or NT rules.
"No win, no fee" in a headline
It's the Act's own example of a breach. Describe your terms factually on your website instead.
Running paid search or social ads for PI
They're not on section 65's list of allowable methods. Our reading is that they're out for PI services; take Queensland advice before running any.
Promotional website copy
The 2026 reprimand turned on lines like "Our expert team will guide you through your claim". The website exception covers explanations of law, rights and terms.
Calling the firm "specialists"
The Queensland Law Society's guidance treats specialist wording under rule 36.2, which reserves "accredited specialist" and its derivatives.
Assuming an agency's post isn't yours
Section 64 covers statements by any person, whether or not they act for a firm. Anything posted for you is your problem too.
Real results
What this looked like for real firms.
A US personal injury result, shown for contrast: the kind of paid campaign Queensland's Act doesn't allow.
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 personal injury lawyers advertise in Queensland?
Only within the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002. An ad may state only the firm's name, contact details and area of practice or speciality, and only through the publication methods in section 65. Advertising on a "no win, no fee" basis is the Act's own example of a breach.
Can a Queensland PI firm run Google Ads?
Our reading is no, for ads promoting personal injury services, because paid search isn't an allowable publication method under section 65. This is a planning view, not legal advice; get Queensland advice before running anything.
What can a PI firm's website say in Queensland?
Section 66(2)(b) allows the firm's own website to explain the law of negligence, a person's rights under it, and the firm's terms. Keep promotional lines, testimonials and results off it. A 2026 tribunal decision shows websites are enforced.
Is "no win, no fee" allowed in Queensland?
As an advertising message, no: the Act gives it as an example of a breach of section 66(1). Describing your actual terms of engagement on your own website falls under the section 66(2)(b) exception.
Do the same rules apply in the Northern Territory?
Similar ones. Section 290 of the NT's Legal Profession Act 2006 limits PI ads to a complying statement (name, contact details, area of speciality) published by a method in section 291. NSW is different: it has no PI advertising ban.
Can we pay for PI leads in Queensland?
Section 71 bans giving or receiving consideration for claim referrals. Advertising to the public isn't a claim referral under section 70(2), but paying someone for referred claims is. See our guide on paying for leads.
Do you work with Queensland firms?
For a Queensland PI firm, the work that fits these rules is reputation, directories, websites and AI search. Schedule a consultation and we'll tell you straight what we'd do inside your state's rules.
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.
- Queensland Legislation, Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (current as at 1 July 2024)
- Northern Territory Legislation, Legal Profession Act 2006
- Queensland Law Society Proctor, PI principal reprimanded over breaches of difficult advertising provisions (May 14, 2026)
- Queensland Law Society, What are the rules about advertising as a specialist or expert?
- Law Council of Australia, Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules 2026
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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