Children’s Advertising Code

AANA Children’s Advertising Code

Effective from 1 December 2023

This Code has been adopted by the AANA as part of advertising and marketing self-regulation. The object of this Code is to ensure that advertisers and marketers maintain a high sense of social responsibility when advertising and marketing to children in Australia.

This Code is accompanied by a Practice Note which has been developed by the AANA.

The Practice Note provides guidance to advertisers and complainants, and must be applied by the Ad Standards Community Panel in making its determinations. In the event of any ambiguity the provisions of the Code prevail.

Definitions
Advertising to Children
Children’s Advertising Code

Section 1: Definitions

In this Code, unless the context otherwise requires:

Advertising means:

  1. any advertising, marketing communication or material which is published or broadcast using any Medium or any activity which is undertaken by, or on behalf of an advertiser or marketer,
    • over which the advertiser or marketer has a reasonable degree of control, and
    • that draws the attention of the public in a manner calculated to promote or oppose directly or indirectly a product, service, person, organisation or line of conduct,
  2. but does not include:
    • labels or packaging for products
    • corporate reports including corporate public affairs messages in press releases and other media statements, annual reports, statements on matters of public policy
    • in the case of broadcast media, any material which promotes a program or programs to be broadcast on that same channel, station or network.

Advertising to Children means:

Advertising that targets Children and which is determined by the context of the advertisement and the following three criteria:

  1. Nature and intended purpose of the product being promoted is principally or significantly appealing to Children;
  2. Presentation of the advertisement content (e.g. theme, images, colours, wording, music and language used) is principally appealing to Children;
  3. Expected average audience at the time or place the advertisement appears includes a significant proportion of Children.

Community Panel means the Panel appointed by Ad Standards from time to time, the members of which are representative of the community, to administer a public complaints system in relation to Advertising.

Children means persons under the age of 15 and Child means a person under the age of 15.

Medium means any medium whatsoever including without limitation cinema, internet, outdoor media, print, radio, telecommunications, television or other direct-to-consumer media including new and emerging technologies.

Premium means anything offered either free, at a reduced price, or with an additional cost and which is conditional upon the purchase of an advertised product.

Prevailing Community Standards means the community standards determined by the Ad Standards Community Panel as those prevailing at the relevant time in relation to Advertising to Children. The determination by the Community Panel shall have regard to Practice Notes published by AANA and any research conducted by Ad Standards.

Advertising to Children

All three criteria will be considered by the Community Panel in determining whether or not advertising targets Children. The weighting given by the Community Panel to each of the three criteria will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

In the event of a complaint being considered by the Community Panel, the advertiser should be in a position to provide details in terms of the nature and intended purpose of the product, the presentation of the advertisement content and the expected average audience at the time or place the advertisement appears.

In relation to the third criteria, measures to determine if Children are likely to be a ‘significant proportion’ of the expected average audience may include one or a combination of the following:

  • Where data exists, 25% or more of the predicted audience will be Children. In relation to outdoor advertising, if across a campaign the data shows a predicted audience with less than 25% Children, and there is a Children’s event or concert that is incidental to the ad placement, the audience of that incidental Children’s concert or event will not be captured.
  • C&P programs.
  • Programs, artists, playlists, video, movies, magazines or other content with significant appeal to Children (e.g. featuring personalities or characters popular with Children).
  • Compliance with the Outdoor Media Association Placement Policy and Health & Wellbeing Policy which regulate the placement of advertising at primary and secondary schools which are locations where Children regularly and predictably gather.

Where accurate program audience data is not available, the Community Panel may have regard to other factors listed above such as the program content, the time or the location where the advertisement is being shown (in line with the above provision).

Section 2: Children’s Advertising Code

  1. Advertising (including sponsorship advertising) of Occasional Food or Beverage Products must not target Children.

    SECTION 3.1 Practice Note

    Advertisers must be able to demonstrate that they have evaluated or that care has been taken to evaluate the expected average audience composition before the placement of Occasional Food or Beverage advertisements to ensure they are not targeted at children.Where a meal deal is being advertised, each item in that meal deal must meet the Food Standards Australia Nutrient Profile Scoring Criterion, otherwise the advertisement will be considered to be for Occasional Food and Beverage Products.
  2. Sponsorship advertising that targets children must not show an Occasional Food or Beverage Product, or such product packaging, or depict the consumption of an Occasional Food or Beverage Product.

    SECTION 3.2 Practice Note

    These restrictions do not apply to sponsorship advertisements for food and beverage products that are not Occasional Food or Beverage Products.Companies or brands that sell Occasional Food or Beverage Products can sponsor teams / events / individuals and activities however:

     

    • A clear sponsorship association should be made in sponsorship advertising (e.g. proud sponsor of x).
    • In circumstances where a sponsorship or billboard shows anything more than the logo, company or brand name, the focus of the sponsorship advertisement should be on the activity, the team or the sponsored individual.
    • Where the Occasional Food or Beverage Product is featured in sponsorship advertisement, the ad must not target children.
  3. Advertising of Food or Beverage Products featuring a promotional offer of interest to Children must not create a sense of urgency or encourage the purchase or consumption of an excessive quantity.

    SECTION 3.3 Practice Note

    Advertising for collection-based promotions must not create a sense of urgency or seem to urge Children or their parents to buy excessive quantities of food.For the avoidance of doubt, promotional offers for Occasional Food or Beverage Products must not target children.
  4. Advertisers must not give to Children as awards or prizes Occasional Food or Beverage Products or vouchers that can be used for Occasional Food or Beverage Products.

    SECTION 3.4 Practice Note

    A voucher for a specific dollar amount which can be used for Occasional Food and Beverage Products will be captured by this provision.

This section does not form part of the AANA Children’s Advertising Code and is provided here for information only.

COMPLAINTS UNDER THE AANA SELF-REGULATORY SYSTEM

Complaints about the content of an advertisement or marketing communication can be made under this Code and the other AANA Codes to Ad Standards.

You can make a complaint by:

Ad Standards
PO BOX 5110
BRADDON
ACT 2612

Once Ad Standards has received your complaint, it then assesses the complaint to determine whether it is eligible for consideration by the Ad Standards Community Panel. The Community Panel is the body established to consider complaints. If accepted the advertiser/marketer is notified and a response is requested. The complaint is then considered by the Board and the advertiser and complainant are advised of the determination. A case report is then published.

The original complainant or advertiser/marketer can also ask for a review of the determination.

If your complaint is about a program (not an advertisement) on television or radio, please contact the relevant industry body