_edited.png)
Are Your Before-and-After Photos Legal? What Australian Businesses Need to Know
Before-and-after photos are one of the most effective advertising formats available, for arguably the same reason they’re heavily regulated: they are extremely persuasive, and can be made misleading quite easily, sometimes without a single word of text. If before-and-afters are part of your marketing, you can book a Strategy & Advice Consult to have your current content checked.
The general ACL risk
Under section 18 of the Australian Consumer Law, an image can potentially be misleading on its own, with no accompanying claim at all. If a before-and-after photo creates a false impression of the typical result a consumer can expect, whether through lighting, angle, filters, selective editing, or simply showing an unrepresentative best-case outcome, that could amount to conduct capable of misleading a reasonable consumer. This applies to any business making a before-and-after style claim: weight loss programs, skincare, fitness transformations, cleaning or renovation services, teeth whitening, hair restoration, and more.
Why “just one example” can still be a problem
A common assumption is that as long as the individual photo is real and untouched, showing it is fine. That’s not necessarily right. Even a completely genuine, unedited photo can still be considered misleading if it’s presented as though it represents the typical outcome, when in fact it’s the single best result out of a much wider, more mixed range. The issue isn’t only whether the photo was altered. It’s whether the photo, in context, gives a reasonable consumer an accurate impression of what they are likely to experience.
Where the rules tighten further: regulated cosmetic procedures
If your business provides a higher-risk non-surgical cosmetic procedure regulated by AHPRA, guidelines that came into effect on 2 September 2025 impose specific, much stricter rules on before-and-after imagery, on top of the general ACL position above.
Under these guidelines, before-and-after images generally need to use real, unedited photos of real patients. Airbrushing, filtering, or any other editing that alters how the result appears is not permitted. The images should be accompanied by a clear disclaimer, such as “results vary between individuals,” placed where a consumer will actually see it, not in fine print at the bottom of an unrelated page. The advertising should reflect a typical result, not a single best-case outcome cherry-picked from hundreds of patients, and should include information about variables that affect the outcome, such as the patient’s age or underlying condition. The guidelines also prohibit advertising these procedures to anyone under 18, and, as covered in Are Your Testimonials and Reviews Legal?, prohibit the use of testimonials and influencer endorsements for these procedures.
The single best-result photo scenario
A skin clinic performs a treatment on around 80 clients in a quarter. Most see a moderate, gradual improvement over several months. One client, with an unusually favourable skin type and consistent aftercare, achieves a dramatic result in four weeks. The clinic photographs that one result and uses it as the centrepiece of its advertising, with no disclaimer and no indication that this is an outlier rather than a typical outcome. Nothing about the photo itself was edited or faked. The likely problem is that it is being presented as representative when it may not be, which could create the same false impression the ACL is generally aimed at preventing, and if the clinic offers a regulated cosmetic procedure, it may also raise issues under the specific AHPRA imagery rules.
Practical steps
Before using before-and-after imagery in your advertising, check the following.
Are the images completely unedited, with no airbrushing, filtering, or selective lighting that changes the apparent result?
Do you have documented consent from the person in the photo to use their image in advertising, and does that consent cover the specific use (website, social media, print) you’re putting it to?
Is there a clear, visible disclaimer about individual variation in results, not buried in terms and conditions?
Is the example you’re showing genuinely representative of a typical outcome, or is it your single best result being presented as the norm?
If you provide a regulated cosmetic procedure, have you checked your before-and-after content specifically against the AHPRA guidelines that took effect in September 2025, rather than assuming your general marketing practices are compliant? It’s also worth revisiting your broader promotional activity, including anything covered in Are Your Social Media Giveaways Legal?, if before-and-after content forms part of a wider campaign or competition.
This blog is intended for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The content is based on Australian law and may not be current at the time you read it. Legal requirements may vary depending on your circumstances. Always seek independent legal advice tailored to your specific situation before acting on any information provided.
Comments