Short answer: on a listed (AUST L) supplement you can make low-level health-maintenance and support claims — but only ones drawn from the TGA's permitted indications, and never a claim to treat, cure, or prevent a disease. Stronger or disease-level claims require a registered (AUST R) medicine.
What you can say is tied directly to how your product is regulated, so the claim question and the AUST L vs AUST R question are really the same question.
What claims are allowed on a listed supplement?
For a listed medicine, every claim has to be a permitted indication the TGA has pre-approved, and you must hold evidence for it. These are low-level — support, maintenance, and (for some herbal products) traditional-use claims. That's why compliant labels read "supports immune function", "helps maintain healthy digestion", or "assists energy levels" rather than naming a disease. The full mechanic is in permitted indications explained.
What claims are banned on a supplement?
The bright line, shared across markets: a supplement may not claim to treat, cure, or prevent a disease. The moment it does, the TGA stops treating it as a listed supplement and treats it as a product needing registration (AUST R) — a far higher bar. Naming a serious disease (cancer, cardiovascular disease, and the like) falls under the TGA's restricted and prohibited representations and attracts the strictest scrutiny of all.
Why "supports" and "helps maintain" but not "treats"?
Because those soft verbs map to the health-maintenance nature of a permitted indication, while "treats", "cures", and "prevents" are therapeutic claims about a disease — the territory of registered medicines. It isn't a style preference; it's the line between two regulatory classes. Regulators also read the overall impression — imagery, testimonials, and before/after framing can imply a disease claim even when the words don't say it.
Do food-style supplements follow different rules?
Sometimes. If your product is regulated as a food rather than a therapeutic good, it falls under FSANZ rules instead of the TGA, and nutrition and health claims on foods are governed by the Food Standards Code (Standard 1.2.7, Nutrition, health and related claims) — a separate regime with its own list of pre-approved health claims. Working out whether you're a food or a medicine is the first decision, covered in the Australia pillar guide.
How do I check a claim before launch?
Read the label and any ad the way a regulator would — words and overall impression — and check each claim against the permitted list before you print anything. You can run a claim through our free checker to see how it reads against each market's rules; the expensive version of this lesson is the claims that get brands fined after launch.
Last reviewed: June 2026. This article is general information, not legal or regulatory advice; Australian rules (TGA and FSANZ) are detailed and change over time. Verify current requirements with the TGA, FSANZ, or a qualified regulatory professional.