Influencer marketing disclosure rules in Australia

Australia has no single "influencer disclosure law", but disclosure is mandatory in practice. Any time an influencer is paid, gifted product, given a discount, or earns affiliate commission for promoting something, that commercial relationship must be made clear, obvious and upfront to the audience. Failing to do so can amount to misleading or deceptive conduct under the Australian Consumer Law, enforced by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, and can breach the advertising industry's self-regulatory codes.

This means a post that reads as a genuine personal recommendation, when it is in fact paid for or incentivised, is a compliance risk for both the creator and the brand behind it.

What the disclosure rules require

The core principle is simple: advertising must be recognisable as advertising. If a reasonable follower could mistake a sponsored post for an unprompted, independent opinion, the disclosure is inadequate.

In substance, the rules require that:

• The commercial nature of the content is disclosed clearly and prominently, not buried.
• The disclosure appears on first view of each piece of content (every story frame, the start of a video, the visible part of a caption).
• Plain, well-understood labels are used, such as "Ad", "Advertising", "Sponsored", "Paid Partnership" or "Paid Promotion".
• The underlying claims about the product or service are truthful and not misleading.

Disclosure does not cure a false claim. A post can be properly labelled "#ad" and still breach the law if the product claims themselves are untrue or unsubstantiated.

Who the rules apply to

The obligations reach further than many creators assume. They apply to:

• Influencers and content creators who post in trade or commerce, regardless of follower count. Even "micro" and "nano" creators are covered.
• Brands and advertisers who engage influencers. A business cannot outsource its way out of liability; it can be responsible for the conduct of influencers acting on its behalf.
• Agencies and talent managers who arrange or script campaigns.
• Employees and founders promoting their own employer's products without disclosing the connection.

The key trigger is whether the activity occurs "in trade or commerce". A genuinely unsolicited, unpaid post about a product you happened to buy yourself generally falls outside these rules, though it must still not be misleading.

The two layers: consumer law and advertising codes

Australia regulates influencer disclosure through overlapping regimes. Understanding both matters because they carry different consequences.

The ACL is the hard-edged layer. Its prohibitions on misleading or deceptive conduct, and on false or misleading representations and testimonials, sit in the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. Undisclosed paid endorsements presented as independent opinions can fall foul of these provisions. The full text is on legislation.gov.au.

The AANA Code of Ethics, administered by Ad Standards, requires that advertising be clearly distinguishable as such. It expressly addresses influencers: the commercial relationship must be clear, obvious and upfront, expressed in a way audiences readily understand. Breaches are handled by the Ad Standards complaints process rather than the courts.

The AiMCO Code of Practice provides practical disclosure guidance for paid, gifted and value-in-kind engagements. It is voluntary but widely treated as the benchmark for "what good looks like".

For broader context on advertising obligations, see our marketing and communications hub.

What counts as a 'material connection'

Disclosure is triggered by any material connection between the creator and the advertiser, not just cash. A material connection includes:

• Direct payment or sponsorship fees.
• Free or gifted products, services, trips or event access.
• Discounts, loyalty perks or early access.
• Affiliate links, discount codes or commission arrangements.
• Equity, ambassador roles or ongoing brand relationships.

If a benefit could reasonably influence what the creator says, or could make the audience weigh the endorsement differently if they knew about it, it should be disclosed. When in doubt, disclose.

How and where to disclose

Placement is where many otherwise well-intentioned campaigns fail. Effective disclosure is visible without effort.

• Be early and visible. Put the label at the start of the caption or video, not after a "more" cut-off or at the end.
• Per frame and per post. On stories, label every frame. On multi-post campaigns, label each post, not just the first.
• Don't hide it in a hashtag pile. A lone "#ad" buried among twenty other hashtags is unlikely to be adequate.
• Use platform tools where available. Built-in "Paid partnership" labels help, but do not assume they are sufficient on their own; pair them with a clear in-content statement.
• Match the format. In a video, say it aloud and show it on screen; in audio-only content, state it verbally.
• Keep it plain. Ambiguous tags like "#sp", "#collab", "#gifted" alone, or "thanks to [brand]" may not clearly signal a paid arrangement.

Disclosures should be in plain English and legible against the background. The test is practical: would an ordinary follower immediately understand this is advertising?

Common pitfalls and enforcement

The ACCC has signalled that influencer marketing is an enforcement priority. In a December 2023 internet sweep of social media influencers and businesses, it reported that the large majority of influencers reviewed were making posts that raised concerns under the ACL for potentially misleading advertising. The ACCC's findings and guidance are published on its influencer testimonials page.

Frequent failure points include:

• Treating gifts as "free of obligation". Gifted product is a material connection; receiving it without payment does not remove the disclosure duty.
• Disclosing only on the first post of a longer campaign.
• Burying the label in hashtags, captions below the fold, or fast-scrolling story text.
• Fake or incentivised reviews presented as organic, including instructing creators not to mention they received product.
• Misleading claims about results, ingredients, pricing or "Australian made" status that the creator cannot substantiate.

Consequences range across the regimes: court-enforceable penalties, infringement notices and undertakings under the ACL; adverse Ad Standards determinations requiring content removal; and significant reputational damage to both creator and brand. Where personal data is collected through campaigns (for example, email capture or app-based promotions), separate privacy obligations may also apply, such as the direct marketing rules under APP 7.

What brands and creators should do

A workable compliance approach treats disclosure as a default setting, not an afterthought.

• Contract for it. Brands should require clear disclosure in influencer agreements and specify the wording and placement.
• Brief and review. Provide creators with approved disclosure language and review draft content before it goes live.
• Keep records. Document the commercial relationship, the brief, claim substantiation and the published posts.
• Substantiate claims. Hold evidence for any performance, health, pricing or origin claims before they are made.
• Build a influencer disclosure checklist into campaign sign-off so labelling, placement and claim accuracy are confirmed every time.

Disclosure is low-cost insurance. A clearly labelled, truthful post protects the audience, the creator and the brand, while an undisclosed paid endorsement exposes all three to consumer-law and code-based risk.