1 AUGUST 2014: The Queensland Government has accepted “in principle”, the proposal by the Health and Community Services Committee to co-regulate outdoor advertising in the State, by introducing legislation to penalise the very small number of advertisers who ignore Advertising Standards Board adjudications.
The Health and Community Services Committee Report makes a number of recommendations for co-regulation that, if adopted, could result in the Attorney General determining the content of a Code for outdoor advertising.
The Government has told us that it intends to pursue an alternative to the Committee’s proposals for co-regulation, but the Government’s formal response is silent on what form it intends to take and, of course, the devil is always in the detail. That said, we are encouraged that the Government has stated publicly that self-regulation is working very well – except in a very few cases – and that “the Queensland Government is committed to ensuring that there is no increased regulatory burden for the advertising industry and businesses that advertise in Queensland”. This is consistent with the assurances we were given.
As a priority, the AANA will continue to work closely with the Queensland Government, the Australian Standards Bureau and the Outdoor Media Association to ensure a solution emerges that is consistent with the Government’s stated desire to help underpin the self-regulatory system, and one that does not cause additional imposts for industry.
Promoting and defending our system of self-regulation is at the core of the AANA and we thank all those members that have worked with us on this inquiry. We will continue to call on your support as we maintain and defend Advertisers’ right to responsible commercial free speech.
The Government’s full response can be accessed here.