The Therapeutic Goods Advertising Consultative Committee (TGACC) met in Canberra on Friday, 20 September 2024. The Committee comprises stakeholder organisations with an interest in the advertising of therapeutic goods in Australia, including healthcare professional bodies, consumer groups, therapeutic goods industry peak bodies, and media industry peak bodies.
The Committee discussed proposed updates to the TGA’s social media advertising guidelines, suggesting the involvement of subject matter experts in the review process. Members suggested additional content is needed to cover advertising risks to children and the complexities of providing guidance for international and reposted content.
Members discussed concerns about non-compliant advertising, particularly for low-risk medicines. They emphasised the need for consistent regulation and stricter TGA action on non-compliant advertising. They suggested more detailed TGA media releases on infringement notices and enforcement actions may assist to educate the sector.
The TGA provided an update on changes to the regulation of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RA) products. Members raised concerns about advertising unregistered products, including for off-label uses.
The TGA presented a detailed overview of the vaping goods legislation and its advertising implications.
The TGA presented a comprehensive overview of the transparency and advertising findings from the TGA’s Artificial Intelligence priority legislation review.
The Committee discussed the TGA’s review of the list of substances that can be described as vitamins in advertising. Members emphasised the importance of using understandable terms on labels to clearly identify substances. They questioned whether these substances could be listed by their commonly known names on ingredient lists and asked for consistency.
The Committee noted that TGA would extend the 2023/24 compliance priorities to cover the 2024/25 period (until 30 June 2025) due to their ongoing impact on public health.
The Committee noted the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Compliance and Education Report, including updates on enforcement actions relating to relating to compliance priorities and educational activities.