40 Years of Ad Standards in Australia

03 March 2015

EASA’s Australian member, the Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB), is celebrating 40 years of ad self-regulation in Australia this week.

As part of the celebrations the ASB has released the book “Irk, eek, oh! & really? 40 years: Self-regulation meeting community standards in advertising” which examines the tumultuous history of advertising self-regulation in Australia. 

A key strength of the current system in Australia is its ability to adapt to change – both in terms of community values and changes in media. In part this is thanks to the nature of the ASB Board. The Board is made up of community members with no ties to industry or special interest groups, this ensures that community values are maintained and that changes are responded to quickly and effectively.

According to Fiona Jolly, CEO of ASB, “The system works because of the commitment of the advertising industry to keep the system well-funded, to cooperate with the process and to trust the ASB to run an impartial but fair complaints resolution system.”

The ASB has been recognized on several occasions for its great work in implementing the operational standards set out in EASA’s Best Practice Model. 

The Australian self-regulatory system was established in 1974 in the guise of the Advertising Standards Council and changed over to the current ASB model in 1998. The ASB has played a leading role in the dialogue with APEC about the development of effective ad standards in the region since 2012.

The book is available for download from the ASB website here.