11.0 Background

Show / hide chapter menu

By world standards, Australia has been a pioneering nation in the control of tobacco advertising and promotion.[1] Advocacy from the 1960s onward by early tobacco control advocates such as Dr Cotter Harvey, founder of the Australian Council on Smoking and Health, and Dr Nigel Gray, then director of the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria (now The Cancer Council Victoria) put tobacco advertising on the political agenda. Direct cigarette advertising on radio and television was phased out over the three years between September 1, 1973 and September 1, 1976. The ban was introduced by the Labor Government under Gough Whitlam, and seen through to completion by the Liberal Government of Malcolm Fraser.

Advertising which was construed as 'accidental or incidental' to a broadcast or transmission was allowed to continue, a provision included as a late amendment to the legislation before it was passed in 1976. There is little doubt that this amendment occurred in direct response to tobacco industry lobbying. The tobacco industry had already managed to ensure major exposure on television in the United States following a direct advertising ban by engaging in sponsorship of sport: they planned to do the same in Australia, provided the legislation gave them the opportunity.

In October 1988, the then Federal Minister for Health, Dr Neal Blewett, stated his support for a national ban on tobacco advertising in newspapers and magazines, advising that he would proceed with legislation provided he had the support of the states. In the following year federal support was gained for a ban in the recommendations of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the National Crime Authority. In May 1989, that Committee, comprising representatives from all major political parties, unanimously recommended to Parliament that tobacco advertising be completely banned.

In August 1989 Democrat Senator Janet Powell announced her intention to table the Smoking and Tobacco Products Advertisements (Prohibition) Bill, which proposed a ban on tobacco advertising in the print media, billboards and cinema, and to outlaw sporting sponsorship. The legislation was subsequently amended by the Government to include print media (locally produced newspapers and magazines), but exclude cinema, billboard and sponsorship advertising, on the grounds that these more correctly fell within state jurisdictions. The Smoking and Tobacco Products Advertisements (Prohibition) Act was passed on December 28, 1989.

The 'accidental or incidental' loophole enabled exploitation of advertising legislation on a massive scale, becoming the major battleground for further restrictions on tobacco advertising during the early 1990s. With the passage on December 17, 1992, of the federal government's Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act, most forms of tobacco sponsorship were phased out by December 1995, with cricket sponsorship concluding on April 30, 1996. (Sponsorship exemptions were granted to events that were of international importance that would otherwise not be held in Australia if sponsorship were banned.) No advertising on billboards, illuminated signs and other outdoor signs could be displayed after December 31, 1995. The maximum penalty for any regulated corporation to 'knowingly or recklessly' publish, or authorise or cause a tobacco advertisement to be published after July 1, 1993 is $12,000 for a natural person and $60,000 for a corporation. 'Accidental or incidental' transmission of any advertising material (essentially material which is outside the control of the publisher, and for the publication of which the publisher receives no direct or indirect benefit) remains permitted.

The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control defines tobacco advertising and promotion as 'any form of commercial communication, recommendation or action with the aim, effect or likely effect of promoting a tobacco product or tobacco use either directly or indirectly' 1 p 4 and requires that each country shall 'undertake a comprehensive ban on all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship'.1 p 11 Australia has signed and ratified the treaty and is therefore bound by these terms.

Because of the comprehensiveness of its legislation, Australia was described recently by British American Tobacco Australia officials as having one of the 'darkest markets in the world', rivalled only by Canada, in which to market tobacco products.2 p iii1 Despite this situation, tobacco industry marketing continues today by taking advantage of legislative gaps and loopholes.

Bans on tobacco advertising are recognised as being an essential component of a comprehensive tobacco control strategy. While Australia has closed all 'above-the-line' marketing opportunities to the tobacco industry, the industry has capitalised on gaps in federal, state, and territory legislation by focusing on non-traditional means of promotion. Industry marketing efforts include event promotions, in-store displays and innovative packaging. Additionally, movies and the internet present important opportunities for tobacco product promotion.

This chapter briefly outlines why tobacco advertising is a problem, examines existing Australian federal, state, and territory tobacco advertising legislation, and details the current and future marketing strategies of the tobacco industry. A glossary of key advertising terms can be found in the box, left.