Advertising Standards Bureau - Review of Operations 2013 | Page 7
What the levy is used for
Funding of self‑regulation
All levy monies are applied exclusively to the
maintenance of the self-regulation system and are
used to finance activities such as:
Responsible advertisers assist in maintaining the
self-regulation system’s viability and support its
administration by agreeing to a levy being applied
to their advertising spend. Since the establishment
of the advertising self-regulation system in
Australia, the levy has been set at 0.035 per cent,
just $3.50 per $10,000 of gross media expenditure.
During the first half of 2013, a significant amount
of work was directed into reviewing and assessing
the levy collection and remittance framework
to address gaps in the system. following this
review the ASB sought and received key industry
stakeholder support for an increase of the levy
rate. The levy rate had remained unchanged since
1997 despite a significant increase in the number
of codes, complaints, cases and media touch points
between 1997 and 2013. The self-regulation levy
will increase to 0.05% ($500 per $1m of media
buying) from 1 April 2014.
g
eneral ASB administration and operation
of the self-regulation system, including
maintenance of complaints management
•
Who funds the
self‑regulation system?
•
r
ecruitment of Advertising Standards
Board members, and attendance of 20
Board members from diverse geographical
backgrounds at regular meetings
•
A
dvertising Standards Bureau meetings
and teleconferences with industry and
government as appropriate throughout
the year
•
r
esearch to assist Advertising Standards
Board members and the community to
understand self-regulation and specific
Code related issues, including research into
community standards and levels of awareness
of the ASB
•
A
SB contribution to AANA Code reviews.
How levy is collected
The levy is collected mainly through media
buying agencies but also directly from advertisers
and advertising agencies that buy their own
media space.
The levy is remitted quarterly through the
Australian Advertising Standards Council
(AASC), the funding body of advertising selfregulation. The AASC holds the industry funds in
an account which is drawn upon to pay the costs
involved in administering and operating the selfregulatory system.
Management of the funds is outsourced, the
financial accounts are prepared by chartered
accountants and audited by an independent
audit firm.
Confidentiality of levy collected
The amount of levy collected from individual
advertisers is kept confidential from the Board and
Directors of both the ASB and the AASC. This
ensures appropriate commercial confidentiality
about the expenditures of individual advertisers on
particular products and services.
Funding of the Advertising Standards Bureau
(ASB) and its secretariat support of the
Advertising Standards Board and Advertising
Claims Board is provided through the voluntary
levy - the ASB receives no government
funding. The levy is paid to and administered
by the Australian Advertising Standards
Council (AASC).
Review of Operations 2013
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