9. Advertising Aspects

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Whisky
Australia

This section provides information on regulations on advertising and if there are any restrictions or approval processes.

9.1 Applicable Advertising Regulation

General Food

The main regulatory framework for advertising in Australia is the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) [1]. In addition to advertising foods and beverages, the ACL covers many other products and services. The legislative component of the ACL is set out in Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 [2]. The Act is administered and enforced by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) [3] with the cooperation of the state and territory consumer protection agencies under a memorandum of understanding. Regulations made under the ACL are set out in Parts 6 and 7 of the Competition and Consumer Regulations 2010 [4].

Advertising in Australia is managed through a self-regulatory system. The Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) [5] is the industry and self-regulatory body for advertisers and marketers in the country. Both advertising industry companies and other business groups can become members; however, membership is not mandatory. Advertiser members pay a levy to make use of the self-regulatory system. AANA publishes codes of practice for members to follow, including one for alcohol advertising [6].

The cornerstone of the AANA self-regulatory system is the Code of Ethics [7]. Section 2.6 includes provisions that deal with advertisements that encourage irresponsible alcohol consumption such as drinking whilst driving a motor vehicle. The Code of Ethics is supplemented by a number of others, including a Code of Advertising and Marketing to Children, and a Food and Beverages Code [8]. The self-regulatory system is underpinned by an independent complaints-handling system administered by Ad Standards [9].

Category

Alcoholic beverages

In addition to the requirements explained for General Food above, the following is relevant to the advertising of alcoholic beverages.

Alcohol advertising is regulated by industry standards that have been set by alcohol companies. Every business advertising an alcohol product must follow the Alcoholic Beverages Advertising Code (ABAC) [6] and the AANA Code of Ethics [7], which is part of an Alcoholic Beverages Advertising Code Scheme.

Product

Whisky

Same as "Category" (alcoholic beverages) above.

9.2 Specific Restrictions on Advertising

General Food

Since the promotion of alcoholic beverages has its own product-specific rules, the information for General Food advertising is not relevant and will not be summarized.

Category

Alcoholic beverages

In Australia, alcoholic beverages cannot be sold or advertised to people under eighteen years of age. Different platforms will have varied rules when it comes to advertising alcohol. For free-to-air television, there are restrictions on advertising alcohol around programming for children. The Broadcasting Services (Australian Content and Children's Television) Standards 2020 [10] prohibits such advertising during or in ad breaks immediately after children’s TV shows or at times when children are home from school and likely watching television. In practice, this means such advertising is restricted to:

After 6 pm during sports programs, weekends, and public holidays
Between 12 pm and 3 pm on school days
Between 8.30 pm and 5 am on all other days

Alcoholic advertisements cannot be shown on subscription channels dedicated to children’s shows.

For advertisements in cinemas, movies on DVD, and computer games, alcohol cannot be advertised where the screening is classified as suitable for minors or an unrestricted age group in keeping with the classification scheme under the Classification (Publications, Films, and Computer Games) Act 1995 [11].

Some of the states and territories have instigated restrictions on some forms of outdoor advertising of alcohol, for example near schools or on public transport. This is not consistent between the various jurisdictions and available information across the country is not up to date. The Foundation for Alcohol Research & Education (FARE) has produced a summary as of December 2019 (Figure 1). Similarly, separate Liquor Promotion Guidelines which apply in each state and territory for the responsible promotion of alcohol in licensed venues (known as “on-premise” advertising) have been set up and vary between jurisdictions. Examples include prohibitions on promotions that encourage irresponsible alcohol consumption or intoxication (e.g., drinking games, shooters, “all you can drink” offers). There is no consolidated summary available for these guidelines.

Figure 1: Summary of state and territory restrictions on outdoor advertising of alcohol from ref [12]

On social media, advertising of alcoholic beverages depends on the terms and conditions of the individual social media platforms. For example, Facebook (Meta) restricts advertising in Australia so adverts must follow the ABAC code and must not be directed at persons under eighteen years of age. TikTok follows the same rules.

In summary, all alcohol advertisements must follow [6] and [7] and must not:

Encourage excessive or irresponsible consumption of alcohol.
Encourage underage drinking or be designed to appeal to children or adolescents. Or have young adults under the age of twenty-five years in the advert.
Show alcohol being consumed while operating a vehicle, boat, or aircraft, or when engaging in sport (including water activity) or hazardous activity.
Promote excessive or inappropriate consumption of alcohol.
Suggest that alcohol can contribute to the achievement of success, happiness, or a relaxing effect.

Product

Whisky

Same as "Category" (alcoholic beverages) above.

9.3 Advertising Approval

General Food

Since the promotion of alcoholic beverages has its own product-specific rules, the information for General Food advertising is not relevant and will not be summarized.

Category

Alcoholic beverages

Television, print, and radio advertisements must comply with the Commercial Television Code of Practice [13], the Code for Commercial Radio [14], or the Outdoor Advertising Code of Ethics, Alcohol Policy and Placement Policy [15], as relevant. It is mandatory to have pre-vetting of all advertisements for alcohol products intended for television, cinema, radio, and out-of-home (OOH) advertising.

All alcohol advertisements should be checked by advertisers in-house for compliance with the ABAC scheme. There is a user-pays pre-vetting service [16] available, which can be used irrespective of a need for mandatory pre-vetting. The service is available to any alcohol marketer (signatory or non-signatory of ABAC). Currently, pre-vetting services are charged at AU $135 per half hour for signatories and AU $220 per half hour for non-signatories (exclusive of GST, currently 10%) plus any disbursements at cost. Information and applications for pre-vetting can be made through the link [16].

Product

Whisky

Same as "Category" (alcoholic beverages) above.