Advertising review criteria
Departments must comply with all requirements outlined in the Policy on Communications and Federal Identity and the Directive on the Management of Communications and Federal Identity. This includes ensuring that no advertising is conducted for initiatives requiring parliamentary approval or trade deals requiring ratification until such approval has been received.
Ad Standards reviews government advertising campaigns against the following principles:
| # | Policy requirements | Related criteria |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Objective, factual and explanatory | Advertisements present information objectively, in tone and content, and facts are expressed clearly and accurately. |
| 2 | Free from political party slogans, images and identifiers | Advertising creative materials contain no reference to a political event, or slogan, distinctive expression, image, logo or graphic design that is used in the communications of a political party. This could include, but is not limited to, print and electronic materials, social media accounts and hashtags, political campaign speeches, backdrops or signs for events and announcements, and advertisements. |
| 3 | Free from political party bias or affiliation | Advertising creative materials do not give the general impression or appear to promote political party interests. |
| 4 | Advertising is devoid of any name, voice or image of a minister, member of Parliament or senator | Advertising creative materials do not contain the name, image or voice of any current Prime Minister, Minister of the Crown, Member of Parliament or Senator. |
| 5 | The primary colour associated with the governing party is not used in a dominant way, unless an item is commonly depicted in that colour |
The identifying colour of the governing political party is not the predominant colour in an advertising creative. This colour restriction does not apply to:
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