Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to have the opportunity today to discuss the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs report, Reclaiming public space: inquiry into the regulation of billboard and outdoor advertising. The report, released on Monday, provides a comprehensive examination of billboard and outdoor advertising regulation. It also provides a number of important recommendations to help outdoor advertising better reflect community concerns.

I would firstly like to turn to the rationale for this inquiry. As the chair of the committee, the member for Moreton, has said on a number of occasions, the very nature of outdoor advertising makes it unavoidable. As University of Melbourne academic Lauren Rosewarne says:

Unlike the ‘private’ world of magazine and television advertising, outdoor advertising is displayed throughout public space, thus making regulation of the medium a pertinent public policy concern. The inescapable nature of outdoor advertising, compounded with the increasingly sexualised display of women within, demands that an active public policy response occurs.

This report into outdoor advertising directly addresses the issue of billboards and other outdoor media being inescapable for the whole of the community. When we drive down the major freeways of our big cities and even down our suburban streets, we are exposed to an onslaught of often highly provocative and highly effective outdoor advertising. From billboards, public transport shelters and kiosks to public toilets, park benches and phone booths, we live in a world saturated by advertising—and the committee took a wide range of evidence of these images, amongst other things. There is saturation with things like ads for nasal-delivery erectile dysfunction sprays, naked men pictured wearing dog collars and leashes to sell pantyhose and Lolita-like ads with women looking extremely childlike with lollipops, in seductive poses, to sell handbags. When people are faced with all this, I can fully understand why our community says, ''Enough is enough.' Unlike with other forms of advertising, we do not have the power to turn the page or change the channel. Every member of the community is stuck with the same overt billboard or other form of outdoor advertising until it is replaced by a potentially more contentious one.

In response to this, the committee received 51 submissions from stakeholders, all of which were thoroughly considered in producing this report. This report comprises five chapters containing 19 recommendations. As well as making these recommendations to the government, the committee has made them to relevant industry bodies, acknowledging that neither the government nor the committee has authority over these industry bodies in many respects. One of the major concerns being expressed by stakeholders is the fact that the advertising industry is a self-regulating one. The committee recognises that the advertising industry has demonstrated some willingness to review and make changes to this system of self-regulation. The committee understands that the advertising industry has the opportunity to implement the recommendations contained in this report in order to improve its own operation.

I would now like to discuss the issues of most concern to the people of Greenway, whom I represent, and to myself, which the committee addressed in producing this report. The first is the oversexualisation of advertising. We are increasingly being subjected to oversexualised displays in media and especially in advertising. Advertisers realise the effectiveness of using sex to sell, and they consistently rely on the objectification of the female body to convey many a message. The committee looked at a number of examples displaying overt sexualisation of the female body in outdoor advertising, some of which I am sure many members is this place would, unfortunately, be familiar with.

One submission presented to the committee a particularly provocative campaign from a prominent Australian clothing retail chain. This particular marketing campaign was entitled 'I love sex.' This campaign saw billboards displaying a naked woman, a man covering her breasts with his hands and the word 'sex' behind her head. I suppose one could be forgiven for thinking that this clothing chain is in the business of selling something other than clothes. As a result of the ad, a number of complaints by the public were made, including by one of my own constituents.

Because of the pervasive nature of billboard advertising, these images, which may be appropriate for certain magazines and television, are visible for all to see—men, women and children, 24 hours a day. These images can sometimes be located near places of worship, schools and childcare centres and, as a result, expose all parts of the community to often controversial messages that cannot be avoided.

At the core of this issue is the exposure of oversexualised images to children. One of the most concerning aspects of exposing our young people to such oversexualised images in such public places is the effect it can have on their body image and their expectations of the other sex. This issue becomes even more problematic when we see our young people so obsessed with the superficial and the glamorous. Adolescent psychologist Dr Sloane Madden of Westmead Childrens Hospital details the rather frightening realities that our young people are experiencing:

One third of 8 year olds are not happy with their weight and shape. Nearly 1 in 4 are dieting. I think there is a growing concern amongst eating disorder professionals around the world that children at this age are being subjected to increasingly sophisticated adult messages, messages equating thinness with success—sexualised images—presented to children at an age when really they're psychologically unable to understand those images.

This is the reality of what is happening to many of our young people. By exposing children to oversexualised images—which is what currently occurs, unfortunately, in some outdoor advertising—we leave open a range of social, psychological and physical problems for our young people. These are problems no child should have to face.

I now turn to discussing some of the existing regulations. It became apparent to the committee, in addressing these community concerns, that existing regulations on advertising had in many respects failed. I believe the recommendations that the committee understands will be adopted by industry will work to rectify these community concerns regarding the oversexualisation of advertising. The committee did look at the option of introducing a classification system that was submitted by the Australian Christian Lobby, who wanted a G rating for all outdoor advertising. However, as argued by the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, this could have the effect of excluding advertising that is in the public interest, such as illicit drug awareness and sexual health messages. The committee made 19 recommendations to industry to improve its processes. Some of these recommendations were as follows. The committee recommended that the Attorney-General's Department review by 30 June 2013 the self-regulatory system for advertising by evaluating industry's implementation reports and assessing the extent to which there has been effective implementation of the recommendations contained in the committee's report. Under recommendation 4, the committee recommended that the Attorney-General's Department look to include 'the unrestricted display of racist or sexualised images in the public space' in the scope of discriminatory practices with the intention of reducing the number of over-sexualised images that we currently see displayed on many billboards. Under recommendation 8, the committee recommended:

that the Australian Association of National Advertisers amend its advertising code of ethics to proscribe sexual objectification of men, women and children.

Under recommendation 9, which was made to the Advertising Standards Bureau, the committee recommended that research be conducted every two years into:

community perceptions of the use of sex, sexuality and nudity in advertising in general and specifically in outdoor advertising;

…   …   …

prevailing community standards on health and safety in advertising in general and specifically in outdoor advertising;

prevailing community standards on advertising to children …

To ensure that the industry makes a concerted effort in cleaning up its act in these matters, it has been recommended by the committee that the relevant industry groups provide a comprehensive report to the Attorney-General's Department by 30 December next year detailing their responses and how the relevant recommendations contained in the committee's report have been implemented. To ensure complaints from the public are dealt with in an effective manner, the committee has recommended that members of the Australian Association of National Advertisers and the Outdoor Media Association:

'forward complaints they receive from the public directly to the Advertising Standards Bureau'.

The final recommendation made by the committee was again to the Advertising Standards Bureau. It recommended that it strengthen its independent review process.

I believe the committee's recommendations are the appropriate measures to take at this point in time, as did the entire committee unanimously. The report has delivered 19 recommendations to government and industry in order to improve the processes governing outdoor advertising so that they better reflect community standards. I am sure that the committee's report will be welcomed by many in my electorate, where there has been considerable concern about the standard of outdoor advertising. In closing, I thank my fellow committee members for all their hard work in contributing to this report. I make special mention of the committee chair, the member for Moreton, and the committee deputy chair, the member for Pearce. I thank the committee secretary, Dr Anna Dacre, and everyone else involved with the committee secretariat. I believe we worked in a very constructive manner on a very important issue. We took a wide range of written and in-person evidence, all of which was taken seriously and analysed thoroughly. It has been a privilege to be part of this committee, and I do hope the recommendations outlined in this report go a long way to seeing us reclaim our public space.

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