Advertising Standards Bureau Review of Operations 2016 2016 Review of operations_WEB | Page 4

Who we are 2016
The Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) administers Australia’s national system of self-regulation in
relation to both public and competitor complaints.
This is achieved through the independent
complaints resolution processes of the Advertising
Standards Board and the Advertising Claims • explaining the role of advertising in a free
enterprise system • running other regulatory systems as
contracted from time to time. The ASB has an ongoing commitment to
international best practice in advertising
self-regulation and measures its performance
in administering Australia’s advertising
self-regulation system against international
standards. The European Advertising Standards
Alliance (EASA) and the World Federation
of Advertisers best practice guides and
the International Chamber of Commerce
Consolidated Code of Advertising and Marketing
Communication Practice all provide important
benchmarks in this area. In 2016 the ASB administered the following
codes of practice: Public complaints about particular advertisements
in relation to the issues below are considered
cost-free to the community by the Advertising
Standards Board:
• Australian Association of National
Advertisers (AANA) Code of Ethics • health and safety
• use of language
• ANA Code for Advertising and Marketing
A
Communications to Children • se of sexual appeal in a manner that is
u
exploitative and degrading
• ANA Food and Beverages Advertising and
A
Marketing Communication Code • discriminatory portrayal of people
• ANA Environmental Claims in Advertising
A
and Marketing Code • concern for children
• portrayal of violence, sex, sexuality and nudity
Advertising self-regulation has been part of the
Australian advertising landscape for the past
40 years. The current system is not the original
system of advertising self-regulation in Australia.
It was preceded by the Advertising Standards
Council (ASC) established in 1974 to hear
consumer complaints about advertisements
and determine if they were in line with the
Advertising Code of Ethics. • ANA Wagering Advertising & Marketing
A
Communication Code • advertising to children
• advertising of food and beverages
• ederal Chamber of Automotive Industries
F
(FCAI) Voluntary Code of Practice for
Motor Vehicle Advertising • advertising of motor vehicles
• advertising of wagering
• ustralian Food and Grocery Council
A
(AFGC) Responsible Children’s Marketing
Initiative of the Australian Food and
Beverage Industry An Independent Review process continues to
provide the community and advertisers a channel
through which they can appeal decisions made by
the Advertising Standards Board.
• FGC Quick Service Restaurant Initiative
A
for Responsible Advertising and Marketing
to Children.
Board respectively.
The Bureau was established, in 1998, for the
purposes of:
•
•
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establishing and monitoring a self-regulatory
system to regulate advertising standards
in Australia
promoting confidence in, and respect for, the
general standards of advertising on the part of
the community and the legislators
The ASB also works with the Alcohol Beverages
Advertising Code (ABAC) management
scheme, and accepts, and forwards to the ABAC
administrator, all complaints about alcohol
advertisements in order to provide a seamless
complaint lodgement system for consumers.
Competitor claims between advertisers in relation
to truth, accuracy and legality of particular
advertisements are considered on a user-pays basis
by the Advertising Claims Board.
Advertising Standards Bureau