Law Firm Advertising Rules in Australia, State by State

Lawyers in Australia can advertise if the advertising is not false, misleading or deceptive, offensive or prohibited by law, and uses 'accredited specialist' only for an accredited solicitor. That is rule 36 of the solicitors' conduct rules, in force in every state and territory. The exception is personal injury: Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory restrict it by statute.

This guide sets out the rules state by state and channel by channel, as they stood when we checked the official sources on 1 October 2026, with the source for each. It is general information, not legal advice. Check anything you intend to publish with your law society or legal regulator, and have a solicitor at your firm approve it. If you would rather have the advertising run for you inside these rules, that is what our law firm marketing service does.

Are lawyers allowed to advertise in Australia?

Yes. Solicitors can advertise in every Australian state and territory, through search ads, social media, their own website, directories, print and broadcast, subject to rule 36 and the general law. The Law Council's commentary on rule 36 points to three other bodies of law that a firm's advertising must satisfy: misleading or deceptive conduct provisions, including section 18 of the Australian Consumer Law; personal injury legislation in the relevant state; and direct marketing legislation such as the Spam Act 2003.

The Queensland Law Society's commentary adds section 29 of the Australian Consumer Law, on false or misleading representations about services, and the Australian Privacy Principles. Personal injury work is where the states part ways, and it is covered state by state below.

What does rule 36 say?

Rule 36 is short. Rule 36.1 says a solicitor or principal of a law practice must ensure that any advertising, marketing or promotion in connection with the solicitor or the practice is not:

• false;
• misleading or deceptive, or likely to mislead or deceive;
• offensive; or
• prohibited by law.

Rule 36.2 says a solicitor must not convey a false, misleading or deceptive impression of specialist expertise, and must not advertise or authorise advertising that uses the words 'accredited specialist' or a derivative of them, including post-nominals, unless the solicitor is a specialist accredited by the relevant professional association.

Two points matter for marketing. The Law Council's commentary says specialist accreditation belongs to the individual solicitor rather than the practice, which means the firm itself cannot be described as an accredited specialist, although a page can name the solicitor who is. And because rule 36 bars advertising that is prohibited by law, any statute that restricts an ad, such as the state personal injury laws below, becomes a conduct issue as well.

On the word 'specialise', the Queensland Law Society's view is that rule 36 does not stop a solicitor claiming to specialise in an area without accreditation, as long as the claim is not misleading. It still advises against using 'specialist' without accreditation.

Rule 34.2 is the other rule worth knowing. In the conduct or promotion of their practice, a solicitor must not seek instructions in a way likely to oppress or harass a person who, because of recent trauma or injury or other circumstances, is at a significant disadvantage at the time. It sits behind every caution about approaching injured people directly.

Law firm advertising rules by state and territory

Every jurisdiction applies a version of the Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules, so rule 36 reads the same everywhere. What differs is personal injury legislation and, more recently, laws against claim farming.

Sources: Law Council of Australia, rules in force by jurisdiction (page updated 7 July 2026); Law Society of NSW; Queensland Law Society; Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld), current as at 1 July 2024; Civil Liability Act 2002 (WA), as at 1 May 2026; Legal Profession Act 2006 (NT), as in force at 1 August 2025; Civil Law (Wrongs) Act 2002 (ACT), effective 16 May 2026. Checked 1 October 2026. 'None identified' means we did not find a personal injury advertising statute for that jurisdiction in the official sources we checked; confirm with the law society.

Personal injury advertising in Queensland

Queensland has the most detailed rules, in chapter 3 of the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (PIPA). Section 64 says a practitioner, or anyone else, advertises personal injury services if they publish a statement that may reasonably be thought to encourage or induce someone to make a claim for compensation or damages for a personal injury, or to use a named practice for that claim. Publishing includes print, broadcast, radio and television, the internet, outdoor signs and vehicles, and material delivered or left at premises.

Section 66 then limits that advertising to a statement of the practitioner's or practice's name and contact details, with information about any area of practice or speciality, published by an allowable method. Section 65 lists the allowable methods: printed publications such as newspapers and directories, signs on buildings, vehicles and other places, printed material delivered or left at premises, and receipts. Online, it allows an electronic copy of an independently published print publication, and an independently maintained directory or database. Nothing may be displayed in or on a hospital, or left in one or on vehicles near one.

The firm's own website is the exception. Under section 66(2)(b) it may also carry statements about the operation of the law of negligence and a person's rights under it, and about the conditions on which the firm will provide personal injury services. The Act's own example of a contravention is advertising personal injury services on a 'no win, no fee' or other speculative basis. The maximum penalty is 300 penalty units, and a practitioner can also be charged with misconduct.

The Queensland Law Society's guidance puts it plainly: no radio, television, cinema or recorded telephone messages; in print and on any website other than your own, only the name, contact details and areas of practice or speciality, with no pictures or self-promotional statements; and 'no win no fee' only on your own website. QLS also summarises the permitted media as including the internet, so whether a particular search or social ad format fits an allowable method is a question to put to QLS before you spend.

Two Queensland cases from 2026

Enforcement is real. In February 2026, QLS Proctor reported Legal Services Commissioner v Bray [2025] QCAT 525, in which billboards advertising injury work on a no win, no fee basis had run for almost five years, including on an electronic billboard attached to a hospital, with similar statements on the firm's website and social media. The tribunal found professional misconduct, ordered a public reprimand and fines totalling $30,000, and ordered costs.

In May 2026, Proctor reported a second matter: a Gold Coast principal publicly reprimanded and fined $4,000, with costs, for unsatisfactory professional conduct over personal injury statements on the firm's own website. The tribunal described the provisions as difficult and noted uncertainty about them in the profession, which is a reason to have your website copy checked, not only your ads.

Claim referrals and approaching people

Part 2 of the same chapter goes further. Giving or receiving anything for a claim referral is an offence (section 71), and so is personally approaching or contacting someone, including by mail, phone, email or other electronic message, to solicit or induce them to make a claim (section 71B), subject to narrow exceptions. Advertising to the public or a group of people is expressly not a claim referral (section 70(2)).

Personal injury advertising in Western Australia

Western Australia follows a similar pattern in Part 3 of the Civil Liability Act 2002, which still applies after the state adopted the Uniform Law in 2022. Section 17 bars a lawyer, or anyone acting for one, from publishing a statement likely to encourage someone to make a personal injury claim or to use a named lawyer or practice for one, unless section 18 allows it. The maximum penalty is $10,000, and the lawyer can also be dealt with for unprofessional conduct.

Section 18 allows a statement of the lawyer's or practice's name and contact details, with or without areas of practice, speciality or accreditation, in a printed publication, in an online copy of an independent publication or an independent directory, on signs, buildings and vehicles, and in printed material or receipts, but not in or on a hospital. As in Queensland, the firm's own website may also explain the law of negligence and the conditions on which the firm takes injury work (section 17(2)(b)).

Personal injury advertising in the Northern Territory

The Northern Territory's Legal Profession Act 2006 has its own part on advertising legal services for personal injury claims (part 3.2, sections 288 to 293). Section 290 makes it an offence, with a maximum penalty of 50 penalty units, for a practitioner to publish a statement intended to get someone to make a claim and engage a named practice, unless it is a complying statement: name, contact details and any area of speciality, published by one of the methods in section 291, a list much like Queensland's. Sections 288 and 290(4) set out exemptions, including for statements published under the legal profession rules, and how they apply to a firm's own marketing is a question for the Law Society Northern Territory.

New South Wales: what changed, and what still applies

New South Wales used to ban personal injury advertising. According to the Law Society of NSW, the Legal Profession Uniform Law does not include the prohibition that existed in the now repealed Legal Profession Regulation 2005, and the Workers Compensation Regulation 2016 does not include the prohibition on advertising work injury legal services in the repealed 2010 regulation. NSW firms advertising injury work answer to rule 36 and the Australian Consumer Law.

NSW has since moved against claim farming. The Claim Farming Practices Prohibition Act 2025 bans contacting someone to solicit a claim and buying or selling claims, with fines of up to $55,000, and stops lawyers charging or keeping fees connected with a farmed claim. It covers claims under the Civil Liability Act 2002, such as medical negligence, public and product liability and intentional torts. Motor accident, workers compensation and dust disease claims are outside it, and in November 2025 the NSW Government introduced a separate bill for motor accident claims, so check its status if you act in that scheme.

What each advertising channel allows

The table applies the rules above to the channels a firm actually uses. The middle column applies everywhere; the last applies to personal injury work in Queensland and Western Australia, and is a guide to the similar list in the Northern Territory.

Sources: rule 36 of the Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules; Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld) ss 64 to 66 and 71B; Civil Liability Act 2002 (WA) ss 17 and 18; Queensland Law Society guidance; Google Ads legal requirements policy; QLS Proctor, February and May 2026. Checked 1 October 2026.

Can lawyers advertise 'no win no fee'?

Yes in most of Australia, with care, but for personal injury work in Queensland and Western Australia only on the firm's own website. The Queensland Law Society's guidance is that using the phrase without qualification is likely to be misleading under rule 36, unless at the time of advertising the firm intends to cover any losing client's liability for the opposing party's costs and the client will not have to pay disbursements. Any such advertisement needs clear disclosure of what the client could still have to pay, and a bare 'conditions apply' is unlikely to be enough. QLS also notes that no win no fee arrangements are not available for criminal law and some family law matters.

Can law firms use testimonials, reviews and case results?

Yes, with limits, because lawyers have no blanket ban on testimonials of the kind health practitioners face. Reviews and client comments are still advertising, marketing or promotion under rule 36, so they must not be false or misleading, and the Australian Consumer Law applies to them like any other claim. In Queensland and Western Australia, a personal injury client's story is hard to fit within the limited content those Acts allow, even on your own site.

Confidentiality is the bigger constraint. Rule 9 lets a solicitor disclose a client's confidential information only on limited grounds, and the relevant one for marketing is that the client expressly or impliedly authorises it. Get the client's express, recorded consent before a review, case study or result identifies them or their matter, and never imply that a past result predicts the next one.

Buying leads and paying for referrals

Lead generation is where firms get caught without meaning to. Before you buy injury enquiries, ask how they are sourced.

• In Queensland, paying or receiving anything for a claim referral is an offence (PIPA s 71), as is paying for touting (s 68), and approaching people to solicit a claim is banned with narrow exceptions (s 71B).
• In New South Wales, the Claim Farming Practices Prohibition Act 2025 bans soliciting, buying or selling most common law injury claims.
• In the ACT, claim farming offences took effect on 16 May 2026, with an express exception for advertising a law practice to the public or a group of people (Civil Law (Wrongs) Act 2002, s 221D).
• Everywhere, rule 34.2 bars seeking instructions in a way likely to oppress or harass someone at a significant disadvantage after a recent trauma or injury.

Queensland and the ACT both treat advertising to the public differently from paying for referrals, which is why a lead source's method matters as much as its price.

How to advertise a law firm inside the rules

1. Decide where the ad will run. List the states and practice areas, and check the personal injury rules for each state before anything is written.
2. Write to rule 36. Say what the firm does, where, and how to get in touch. Promise no outcomes, make no comparison you could not prove, and keep 'specialist' for a named solicitor who is accredited.
3. Keep personal injury copy to the statute. In Queensland and Western Australia that means name, contact details and practice areas outside your own website, and nothing on radio or television.
4. Separate campaigns by state, and set location targeting so copy approved under one state's rules does not serve in another. Our page on Google Ads for law firms covers the set-up.
5. Record the sign-off: each version, the solicitor who approved it, where it ran and the dates.
6. Check your lead sources, so nobody is paid for referrals or contacts people in a way the claim farming laws prohibit.
7. Re-check at least once a year. Queensland remade its conduct rules in 2024 and notified a new version in 2026, and New South Wales and the ACT added claim farming laws in 2025 and 2026.

For the wider plan beyond compliance, see our guide to law firm marketing strategies.

Do Google Ads work for lawyers?

They can, especially for urgent matters, where the person searching needs a lawyer soon. 'Family lawyer' draws 12,100 searches a month in Australia and 'criminal lawyer' 3,600, with Keyword Planner top-of-page bids of $9 to $36 and $10 to $46 a click (October 2026). The rules above decide what those ads may say. Our page on PPC for lawyers sets out click costs for each major practice area and city, and lawyer SEO covers the organic side.

This guide is general information, current at 1 October 2026, and not legal advice. Before you run anything, confirm it with your law society or legal regulator. If you want your Google Ads, Meta and search run inside these rules, see how we run law firm marketing, or book a free profit audit with a senior operator.