Compliance guide
Received a TGA Infringement Notice? What Happens Next
Quick answer — What should a business do after a TGA infringement notice?
Take it as the last cheap warning. An infringement notice lets you pay a fixed penalty — commonly $21,840 per notice for a body corporate (60 penalty units at the $364 unit value in force from 1 July 2026) — as an alternative to court proceedings. Businesses typically receive several at once. Paying is not an admission, but continuing the conduct afterwards is how operators graduate to Federal Court, where the TGA seeks pecuniary penalties of up to $18.2 million per breach — figures as at the $364 penalty unit in force from 1 July 2026 and, in at least one current case, personal liability for a director. Engage legal counsel on the notice itself, and remediate every channel immediately.
How notices actually arrive
Notices are issued in batches tied to specific pages and posts — six businesses and two individuals shared 35 notices totalling $627,252 in one 2025 action. Recent per-business totals include $171,972 (Better Leaf and an individual), $118,800 plus a direction notice (Dispensed), and $239,760 across two clinics. Individuals are routinely fined alongside their companies.
A direction notice can accompany the fines, legally requiring specific content changes. Ignoring warnings is the aggravating pattern the TGA cites when it escalates: in the Montu/Alternaleaf proceedings, the regulator alleges the companies continued advertising despite repeated warnings.
Your realistic options
Pay the notice and remediate; make representations through counsel if you believe the notice is wrong; or decline to pay and defend court proceedings. For most operators the first path is rational — but only if remediation is genuinely comprehensive, because the TGA's proactive monitoring will revisit. That means every website page, every social archive, every linked article, booking flow and ad campaign, not just the pages named in the notice.
This is where an independent audit earns its keep after a notice: the notice tells you what the TGA found; it does not tell you what it will find next.
The escalation ladder
Warning or education letter → infringement notice(s) → direction notice → civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court, with maximum penalties of $1.82 million per breach for individuals and $18.2 million for corporations, plus injunctions. Three cannabis-advertising matters have reached the Federal Court: CDA Clinics, Montu/Alternaleaf and its director, and the Atlus/Mamamia/News Life Media group of publishers. The publisher case matters to everyone: it shows content about a business — earned media, sponsored articles — is inside the enforcement perimeter.
Frequently asked questions
Is paying an infringement notice an admission of guilt?
No — payment discharges the matter without admission. But the conduct record persists, and repeat conduct after payment is the classic path to court proceedings.
Can directors be personally liable?
The TGA alleges exactly that in the Montu/Alternaleaf proceedings, and it has fined individuals directly in multiple notice batches. Individual maximum civil penalties reach $1.82 million per breach.
Will the TGA announce our fine publicly?
Very likely. The regulator publishes enforcement media releases and has committed to more visible enforcement in its 2026–27 priorities.
Does an audit help after a notice?
Yes, differently than counsel: your lawyer handles the notice; an audit maps everything else across your channels so remediation is complete before the regulator looks again. Our reports are also structured to hand to counsel, reducing billable review time.
Check where you stand
The breach patterns in this guide are exactly what our audit engine checks. Start with the free 10-point self-assessment, a $149 rapid scan, or the $449 full audit. Everything is delivered by email.