Alcohol Industry Condemns Advertising Ban in Western Australia

The peak industry body for the Australian alcohol industry has condemned the Western Australian Labor Party’s proposal to ban alcohol advertising on public transport.

As part of its pre-election campaign, Labor has said that if voted in, it would put a stop to alcohol advertising on buses, at train stations and bus stops, linking its decision to alcohol-caused harm in the community.

9 News Perth reported this week that the Labor Party had said, "All existing contracts for alcohol ads would be honoured, but that no new deals would be done.”

While the current Liberal-led government does not support the ban, there is a high chance that it will go ahead, with the Labor Party slated to win a 20-seat landslide come the election in March.

Alcohol Beverages Australia however, has said that it is disappointed that there has been no prior consultation with the industry and that the decision lacks credible research or data.

“This is a poor policy decision taken on the run,” ABA Executive Director Fergus Taylor said.

Last year, Western Australia’s former mental health minister Helen Morton, from the Liberal Party, proposed the same ban, claiming alcohol advertisements on public transport were impacting children and young people.

“Underage drinking is not caused by alcohol advertising so banning it is misguided and pointless,” Fergus Taylor said.

“The weight of independent research shows that young people learn drinking behaviour from parents and peers, so preventative initiatives need to target this and not advertising.”

Fergus Taylor said the data shows that underage drinking has been in steady decline in the state for some time, questioning Labour's reason for the ban.

“This decline has occurred during a period of increased alcohol advertising, which proves that current regulations in place to protect children are highly effective,” he said.

"Data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows that fewer people aged 12–17 years old are drinking alcohol, the proportion in this age group abstaining from alcohol has risen significantly, and binge drinking has also been steadily declining.”

Currently, over 90 per cent of all alcohol advertisements in Australia are pre-vetted by the Alcohol Beverages Responsible Alcohol Marketing Code, an organisation set up in consultation with the Government, industry and health department to ensure that all forms of alcohol marketing are appropriate prior to their release.

In 2016, ABAC pre-vetted over 1,500 advertisements and heard over 34 consumer complaints, which resulted in ten of those being removed.

The Hon Alan Ferguson, Chair for The ABAC Management Committee told drinks bulletin,“The key point of ABAC is that we have members of the industry signed up to the Code, which ensures that the ads they produce are pre-vetted before they go to the public."

Further robust regulations exist in federal competition and consumer legislation and state fair trading legislation and the Outdoor Media Association Code of Ethics, and liquor licensing authorities can also ban alcohol products if they breach a range of conditions, including inappropriate marketing or appeal to children.

There is also a similar ban being floated in South Australia currently.

“I think where there are restrictions being proposed on alcohol, the simple way out would be for governments to only allow advertisements that have been pre-vetted and approved by ABAC,” Alan Ferguson added.