Therapeutic Goods Advertising Consultative Committee, 18 September 2023

The Therapeutic Goods Advertising Consultative Committee (TGACC) met in Sydney on Monday 18 September 2023. The committee comprises stakeholder organisations with an interest in the advertising of therapeutic goods in Australia. These include healthcare professional bodies, consumer groups, therapeutic goods industry peak bodies and peak bodies from the media industry.

The committee discussed its role and operations and confirmed the continuing value of the committee and that some added structure and rigour to the operations will benefit its function. From 2024 there will be two formal face-to-face meetings per year, complemented by two virtual topic-based meetings to discuss time critical matters. Members also discussed the potential addition of other member organisations to better represent health care professionals and the rural health sector.

The committee discussed monitoring and moderation of user comments on the TGA’s social media channels, which include Facebook, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube. This included concerns about alleged comments made by industry competitors using ‘fake’ accounts, on posts relating to TGA’s compliance and enforcement activities. The TGA provided advice regarding moderation processes, including the need for varying approaches for different platforms. Committee members discussed potential moderation techniques.

The committee provided feedback on the updated Therapeutic Goods Compliance Education Strategy. The updated strategy now includes reference to import and supply compliance priorities, as well as advertising, addressing an opportunity for improvement identified by the Australian National Audit Office in their report on the ‘Management of Non-Compliance with the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 for Unapproved Therapeutic Goods’. Committee members agreed to the strategy which will be published on the TGA website.

The committee noted the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Compliance and Education Report. The committee discussed concerns about the advertising of health services that inherently involve therapeutic goods and the potential for this to result in unlawful advertising of therapeutic goods, including prescription medicines.

The committee discussed the 2023-24 compliance priorities for import, advertising and supply. Members noted that the prior year digital platforms priority has now become a ‘business-as-usual’ function of the compliance branch. This includes monitoring of online marketplaces and social media sites and working with them on an ongoing basis regarding their compliance controls.