Advisory

Advisory refers to guidance, recommendations, or notices issued to inform or warn a target audience. As an adjective, advisory describes anything related to giving advice or intended to advise.

In government and public safety contexts, an advisory is a non-binding notice that communicates risk, policy, or recommended actions. Examples include weather advisories, travel advisories, health advisories, and safety advisories. Such notices aim to inform and prepare the public without mandating specific conduct.

Advisory bodies, such as advisory committees or boards, are groups convened to provide expert recommendations to a sponsoring organization. Members usually do not have decision-making authority; their function is to analyze information, assess options, and suggest courses of action the sponsor may adopt or reject.

In legal contexts, an advisory opinion is a formal legal opinion issued by a government attorney or regulator in response to questions about the interpretation or application of law. These opinions are typically non-binding but carry persuasive weight for agencies and courts.

In business and finance, advisory services are professional consulting arrangements that help clients with strategy, governance, risk management, or financial planning. In information technology, security advisories alert users to vulnerabilities and describe remediation steps and workarounds.

Advisories differ from mandatory directives in that they primarily offer guidance rather than commands. They are widely used across public, corporate, and technical domains to convey risk, provide expertise, and support decision-making.