Personal Injury Advertising Rules: What Your Website Can and Cannot Say

Queensland: the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act

Queensland's rules sit in the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (PIPA), Chapter 3 Part 1, sections 62 to 69 ^[1]. The Queensland Law Society summarises the core limits like this ^[1]:

• Advertising of personal injury services is not allowed on radio, television, cinema or recorded telephone messages.
• Advertising in print is limited to the legal practitioner's and law practice's name, contact details and areas of practice or speciality.
• No pictures or "self-promotional statements" are permitted.
• The same restrictions apply to advertising on a website other than your own.

On the firm's own website, the QLS says that in addition to those details a practice can include statements about "the operation of personal injury law and a person's legal rights under that law" and "the conditions under which you are prepared to act", which can include details of no-win-no-fee arrangements ^[1].

How the regulator reads "your own website"

The Legal Services Commission's PIPA regulatory guideline, published on 16 March 2022, adds detail that matters for web design ^[2]:

• An own website means a domain registered in the practitioner's or law practice's name. Social media platforms are not included.
• A website viewed in Queensland is treated as published in Queensland, wherever it is hosted.
• Restricted content should be limited to existing clients or genuine enquirers, for example behind a password or a request for further contact details. The guideline says a simple "Yes" and "No" tick box enabling access to restricted content is not sufficient.
• Internet advertising, including paid search result promotions and search engine optimised results, must comply with the restrictions, as must banner ads, pop-ups and click bait.
• A recognised accredited specialist symbol or a list of legal services provided is permitted.
• Personal injury advertisements must not be placed in, sent to or left at a hospital, or left on a vehicle near one.
• Principals remain responsible for employees, agents and external consultants who develop personal injury advertising.

The QLS summary and the Commission's guideline frame the own-website allowance slightly differently: the QLS describes fuller statements as permitted on the firm's own site, while the Commission's guideline says restricted content should be limited to clients or genuine enquirers. A cautious design follows the Commission's approach, because it is the regulator that enforces PIPA. In practice that means keeping the public personal injury pages to name, contact details and areas of practice, and placing the fuller explanation and fee conditions in a section a person reaches after making a genuine enquiry. Confirm the approach with the Commission or the QLS before you launch.

The 2025 QCAT decision

The risk is not theoretical. In Legal Services Commissioner v Bray [2025] QCAT 525, reported by the QLS's Proctor on 12 February 2026, the tribunal dealt with billboards, including an electronic billboard attached to a hospital, displaying "Injured?" and "No Win, No Fee" for almost five years, alongside similar messaging on the firm's website and social media ^[3]. The tribunal upgraded two charges from unsatisfactory professional conduct to professional misconduct and imposed fines totalling $30,000, a public reprimand and costs, finding an agreed $2,000 fine inadequate ^[3]. The parties agreed that much of the conduct was "of a general variety that is quite prevalent within the personal injuries/compensation legal practice in Queensland" ^[3].

For a website, the lesson is that "No win, no fee" as a headline, a banner or a social post is the kind of statement the Queensland rules restrict.

New South Wales after the Uniform Law

The Law Society of NSW states that the Legal Profession Uniform Law 2014 does not include the prohibition on advertising personal injury legal services that appeared in the earlier 2005 Regulation, and that the Workers Compensation Regulation 2016 does not include the earlier prohibition on advertising work injury legal services ^[4]. General rules still apply: Rule 36 requires that advertising not be false, misleading or deceptive, offensive or prohibited by law ^[5].

NSW has, however, moved against claim farming. The Claim Farming Practices Prohibition Act 2025 (NSW), passed in April 2025, prohibits unsolicited contact to solicit claims for payment and payments for referring claims, with penalties of up to 500 penalty units ($55,000), as reported by the Law Society Journal ^[6]. It is aimed at referral and cold-contact practices rather than website content, but it affects how personal injury firms can work with lead generation providers, and any online lead form run by a third party for payment should be reviewed with that in mind.

Other states and territories

Rules differ across the country and change over time. This guide covers Queensland and New South Wales in detail because their positions are clearly documented by their regulators and professional bodies. If your firm advertises personal injury services elsewhere, check with the relevant Law Society or regulator before publishing. Remember the Commission's point that a website viewed in Queensland is treated as published there ^[2], so a firm based interstate that targets Queensland clients may still need to meet PIPA.

Designing a cautious personal injury section

1. Keep public practice area pages for injury work to the firm name, contact details and areas of practice.
2. Do not use images on those pages beyond what the rules allow, and no photographs of accidents, injuries or hospitals.
3. Place explanations of personal injury law and the conditions on which the firm acts behind a genuine enquiry step if you practise in Queensland, following the Commission's guideline.
4. Write search ad text and page titles under the same limits as the page, because the guideline treats paid and organic search results as advertising.
5. Keep social media posts to the restricted content, because social platforms are not your own website.
6. Remove "no win, no fee" from banners, headlines and calls to action.
7. Have a principal sign off, and keep a dated copy of what was published.