DEFINATION
Political advertising includes any advertising displays, newspaper ads, billboards, signs, brochures, articles, tabloids, flyers, letters, radio or television presentations, digital or social media advertising, or other means of mass communication, used for the purpose of appealing, directly or indirectly, for votes or for financial or other support in any election campaign.
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
Most political advertising requires sponsor identification (a brief message that explains who paid for the ad). The type of ad, print, broadcast, etc., determines how the sponsor ID must be displayed. All political advertising about a candidate for partisan office must identify the candidate's party preference. There are no exemptions.. Statements about candidates in political advertisements must be truthful. When candidate photos appear in political ads, at least one photo must have been taken in the last five years and it can be no smaller than the largest photo in the ad.
TRUTH IN POLITICAL ADVERTISING
Many public complaints regarding political advertising raise issues about the truth and accuracy of the advertisement, in particular concerns that the advertising is misleading. The Community Panel considers complaints under Section 2 of the Code of Ethics, which does not cover matters of truth and accuracy. Ad Standards ordinarily refers public complainants with concerns about the truth or accuracy of advertisements to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) or the State/Territory consumer affairs/fair trading body. However, although these organisations deal with claims of false and misleading advertising, their jurisdictions are limited to matters involving trade and commerce and do not extend to political advertising. Currently, there is no legal requirement for the content of political advertising to be factually correct. Complainants are advised to raise their concerns with the advertiser directly and/or with their local Member of Parliament.