Regulatory

Australia

Few products are outrightly banned from being advertised in Australia. The requirement is that the broadcaster must take into account the intellectual and emotional maturity of its intended audience when scheduling advertisements of specific categories such as tobacco, alcohol, gambling, medical goods, professional services and food & beverages.

Categories such as fortune-telling, entertainment and nightclubs must comply with content requirements and be appropriate to the target audience.

Advertisements broadcast must also comply with relevant Australian Association of National Advertisers’ Codes, including the Code of Ethics, the Code for Advertising to Children and the Food and Beverages Advertising & Marketing Communications Code. They must ensure advertisements promoting goods or services defined in the Weight Management Code of Practice, the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code and the Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code comply with those codes.

Interestingly, the Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA) Codes of Practice for Subscription Broadcast Television note that the relationship between the subscription broadcaster and its subscribers is based on freedom of choice. In that sense, there is greater self-regulation allowed for pay-TV providers as the audience is narrower and viewers have opted in to receive the programming in the first place.

General principles are set out as follows:

  • Advertising shall not deliberately cause offense.
  • Advertising must comply with all requirements of State and Federal Law.
  • Advertising must not promote illegal or unsafe road-usage practices or encourage other dangerous behaviour.
  • Advertising must not unlawfully discriminate against any individual or groups.
  • Competitions must comply with relevant laws.

The framework of program classification codes is as follows:

  • G General
  • PG Parental Guidance
  • M Mature
  • MA 15+ Mature accompanied
  • R 18+ Restricted

 

Advertising minutes per hour No specific limits have been set.
Advertising revenue restrictions Subscription fees must be the predominant (at least 50%) source of revenue for the service.
Tobacco Only allowed in line with the Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act 1992
Alcohol Allowed with restrictions in line with the Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code. Must present a mature, balanced and responsible approach to the consumption of alcohol.
Pharmaceutical Must comply with content requirements and be appropriate to the audience. Copy must be approved before an advertisement can run.
Gambling No restrictions apply to ads for betting and gambling but the advertiser must take into account the intellectual and emotional maturity of its intended audience.
Contraception Allowed but the advertiser must take into account the intellectual and emotional maturity of its intended audience.
Medical Must comply with content requirements and be appropriate to the audience. Copy must be approved before an advertisement can run.
Food and Beverage See AANA F& B Advertising and Marketing Communications Code guidelines. Requirements cover truthfulness, not undermining the importance of a healthy lifestyle/ balanced diet. Care to be taken when advertisements for food or beverage products are scheduled in segments devoted to sports news to not falsely associate the commercial and the editorial content of the program. Food and beverage products not intended as meal substitues shall not be portrayed as such or contain any misleading information about the nutritional value of a product.
Personal eg sanitary protection Allowed but the advertiser must take into account the intellectual and emotional maturity of its intended audience.
Financial Not mentioned.
People AANA Code for Advertising and Marketing to Children gives detailed guidelines concerning Prevailing Community Standards, factual presentation, placement, sexualisation, safety, social values, parental authority, price, qualifying statements, competitions, popular personalities (live or animated), premiums, alcohol, privacy, food and beverages. Children for the purposes of the code are those aged 14 and under.
Claims Claims need to be grounded in scientific evidence. Statistical validity shall not be implied unless there is actual validity nor otherwise use scientific terms to falsely ascribe validity to advertising claims.

For reference only