Field guide · 2026
What an AUST L number actually guarantees, and the three things it does not
This publication shares ownership with PeptaraLabs, Lab Ranked Agency, and Dental Link.
Most vitamin, mineral and herbal products sold in Australia are medicines in law, so the label must carry an AUST L or AUST R number. AUST L means the product is a listed medicine on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG). It is also one of the most misread numbers on a label, so here is what it does and does not tell you.
A product is listed after its sponsor applies and certifies that it meets the rules, for example that it uses only ingredients allowed in listed medicines and makes only approved kinds of claims. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) says it does not individually evaluate listed medicines for quality, safety or efficacy before they go on sale.
Three things a listing does not prove. First, that the product works: the TGA does not check the efficacy evidence before listing. Second, that every batch is the same: that depends on the maker's own quality system. Third, that the shop is a good one: the number belongs to the product, and any seller can stock it.
After products go on sale, the TGA reviews a share of listed medicines, some picked at random and some targeted because of a possible problem. It publishes the results in its Listed Medicine Compliance Reports database. Registered medicines, marked AUST R, are evaluated by the TGA before sale.
Our own limit: the editors read what brands publish. We do not test products or run a laboratory.
To check a product yourself, search its AUST L or AUST R number in the ARTG on the TGA website. The Therapeutic Goods (Advertising) Code 2021 sets out what health product advertising in Australia may say.