Media Release
For release: July 4, 2011
The Australian Christian Lobby said it was disappointed at the recommendations handed down in a report by a House of Representatives committee into the regulation of billboard and outdoor advertising.
ACL’s Chief of Staff Lyle Shelton said the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs’ report on “Reclaiming Public Space” had missed an opportunity for significant reform of outdoor advertising.
“The committee had an opportunity to bring significant change into outdoor advertising and billboard standards but instead has given the industry a second chance,” he said.
“Although the recommendation to introduce a code of practice for out-of-home advertising is positive, the community can have no confidence that industry will abide by it given its previous track record.
“The industry thrives on controversy to make money, such as the 2000 Windsor Smith ad which generated significant publicity for the company,” he said.
Mr Shelton said the committee’s reasoning not to introduce a G-Rating to outdoor advertising didn’t address community concern about the content of billboards.
“The purpose of calling for outdoor advertising to be G-Rated is for the industry to consider children will see the contents on a billboard and to ensure that appropriate content is in the public space,” Mr Shelton said.
“The committee appears to have missed this point when it focused its reasoning on the difference between films and outdoor advertising rather than the potential for consistent standards to be applied across media platforms. [i]
“The call for G-Rated outdoor advertising is to classify the content of the billboard and outdoor advertisement and to keep it in line with what you’d classify as G in a general sense,” he said.
Mr Shelton said he hoped the Australian Law Reform Commission would address the concerns in its extensive review of the National Classification Scheme due to report in January 2012.
[i] See 3.55 in http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/spla/outdoor%20advertising/report/Chapter3.pdf
I guess you do realize that even though outdoor advertising could could get changed to be G rated, Two men hugging isn’t M rated, nor is the fact that it’s advertising condoms that would increase the ratings..
@ Tim – condom advertisements cannot be screed in G-rated periods on television: “6.15 A commercial for condoms may only be broadcast in PG, M, MA and AV classification periods.” http://www.freetv.com.au/media/Code_of_Practice/2010_Commercial_Television_Industry_Code_of_Practice.pdf
please note
Commercials Relating to Products of a Particularly Intimate Nature
6.15 A commercial for condoms may only be broadcast in PG, M, MA and AV classification
periods.
6.15.1 The only exception to this Clause is where a commercial of this kind contains a
public health or safety message, and is classified in compliance with Clause 2.5
and for further reference
2.5 Non-program material dealing in a responsible way with important moral or social
issues: A commercial or community service announcement which would normally
require an M or PG classification may be classified PG or G, respectively, in the
following circumstances:
2.5.1 if it deals in a responsible way with important moral or social issues; and
2.5.2 if its target audience is unlikely to be available in the classification zone suited to
its content; and
2.5.3 if it is in the public interest that it reach that target audience.
so in this one instance of advertising, that billboard i spoke of earlier falls into the clause 6.15.1
simply due to the fact it is a public safety message
and safe sex should be promoted everywhere.
@ Tim – to be in compliance with clause 2.5, the target audience must be unlikely to be reached with the public health message in a classification zone of PG or above (2.5.2). Given the unlikelihood of condom users only watching programs in the G-rated zone, the possibility of a condom ad being aired in the G classification zone is minimal.
ACL would strongly disagree with the suggestion that ‘safe sex should be promoted everywhere’. There is no need to promote sex of any kind in a forum frequented by children.
there are points for and against in everything, the next thing for you to consider is that there is an increasingly larger amount of young teenagers becoming pregnant. this is not always a result of a predatory older male either, young teenagers are experimenting with sex and as a result of the lack of knowledge of safe sex we the general public are footing the bill.
by footing the bill i mean this,
we are paying for their centerlink claims, we are paying for their counselling, we are paying for their lack of schooling as young mothers they dont graduate only to have to attend tafe at an older age on austudy benefits. the list goes on and on.
if you were to look outside the morals that christians have (and yes i am one of those) about not having sex before marriage. and to be perfectly honest if you were to look at the figures of teenage mothers there is a large percentage of them that are from private christian or catholic schools meaning that they have been taught the morals of abstinence.
so in regards to your non compliance of 2.5.2 what exactly is the area that you would promote safe sex to the young…?
@ Tim – in an age-appropriate educational setting with necessary context provided, and importantly with the consent of the parents/care-givers – not via the entertainment media or roadside signage.
@Tim- I am a parent of a prep child. She is starting to read and is keen to read anything and everything. I do not think that it is appropriate to have to explain to a 5 year old the meaning of condom ads. If they are displayed in a public setting I can not stop her from seeing them. She know babies grow in a Mum’s tummy, she has anatomical books (intended for older children), she is learning about reproduction at an age appropriate level. I do not want her learning certain things too early, nor do I want them forced upon her. I am not afraid to approach the subject of sex with my children but some things are just inappropriate at a young age- the ad mentioned is one of the.
‘Safe sex should be promoted everywhere’
No thanks.
Parents would like to be the deciders when their children should receive a safe sex message. Many like myself believe the only safe sex is within the confines of a covenanted marriage relationship.
And the children produced as a result of that relationship brought up by their parents to learn from them the ways and whys of that relationship.
That is where the safety lies.
Billboard or any other public advertising usurps that safe zone and declares itself out of bounds when it is uncensored to the needs of children.
Kirsty, i am a father of 2 children. a 9 year old son and a 3 year old daughter.
whilst i will happily explain the contexts of that billboard to my son if he asked, at the present time my daughter does not need to know exactly what it is as she honestly would forget about it 2 minutes after seeing it anyways so i would say what it is and it would go above her head when she receives the answer.
Chris,
what would be an ideal age to teach this? i’d like you to also realize that children as young as 12 are getting themselves pregnant at the present time.
and yes as bad as that sounds some of these children are from christian families who believed they were bringing their children up correctly.
I myself do believe sex should be saved for marriage, but unfortunately the world is not full of christian’s who believe the same thing.
ACL
yes you are right it should be, but obviously we as a community are failing to do this properly as there is increasing numbers of young teens having unsafe sex, not to mention adult couples as well.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/825869/nsw-12-year-old-about-to-become-a-mum
that is one example of a youth being pregnant i am sure i could find more if i needed to. whilst this story depicts a live in boyfriend scenario there are lots of cases where the kids have unsafe forms of sex in places like parks and so on.
To be honest the thing that should concern us most is why is this happening, instead of trying to put pull the wool over their eyes and disguise the problem by not advertising it. we should be campaigning for better education which includes mandatory religious education in primary schools and high schools and so on.
If we could teach the world how to behave properly we would not need to try to stop this problem as it would never happen.
please do not think i am in this only for arguements sake. I am a christian, i have kids, i am married, i attend church almost every sunday.
i am just trying to understand you views on this and why you are trying to stop a safe sex message.
i do understand why you argued against ads like windsor and the advanced medical institute billboards. and yes while the image of two males hugging does offend my religious beliefs i do realize that there are millions of the unsaved in the world, but as a result of unsafe sex practices by the young and old alike there is many of children and STD’s being brought into this world due to a lack of knowledge and teachings.
my views are of course my own and i am not intending to offend anyone
In my view is right for children to be protected from advertisement that robes them of their innocence.In our western society they are bombarded with the injustice and false sex liberty.If you remember our first love normally is very innocent and beautiful.
In their growing children assimilate information from pears, family and society last one with negative information originate for economical return .
I call exploitation ! That why parents have the duty to monitor and teach them with the goal to became effectively mature and protected from a secular society.
Don,t forget that children hear and see much more that Wat people think!
In this and more reason advertisement must be regulate not only for sex but for all sort include violence.
Government had the duty to limit the economical interest of business for the good of the children and not only them .
The so call freedom had undermine and is very costly in our western country,children and all society had be clearly assimilate this decay and can be see from the amount of violence and sexual abuse experiencing in our country.