Dealing with complaints about advertising in Australia: the importance of regulatory self-discipline

Gender Sex-Role Portrayals in International Television Advertising over Time: The Australian Experience

“…The failings of the current regulatory framework are becoming increasingly apparent to academics and policy makers (Productivity Commission 2000;Harker and Harker 2002;Kerr and Moran 2002). These failings are all the more apparent when compared with the success of self regulation globally.…”

Advertising self-regulation: Clearance processes, effectiveness and future research agenda

“…Based on these flaws in relation to the complaints handling process, Harker and Harker (2002) suggest that to improve standards of ASR and stakeholder harmony, such a self-regulatory framework could or should implement the following strategies: regulatory integrity, democratic system, transparent ASR, enlightened administration and audit system. As the authors noted, while there is evidence of industry abuse of the ASR system in Australia, there is also evidence of abuse of their own system by regulators.…”

“…We then move on to review existing knowledge on how to achieve more effective ASR and how to judge the effectiveness of National Advertising Industry ASR. Harker and Harker (2002) investigated Australian ASR complaint handling processes. With regard to effectiveness in managing complaints, they report that the Australian Advertising Standard Council (ASC) complaint handling process is very far from appropriate and also report a decreased use of the system by some concerned stakeholders but a greatly increased use by rival advertisers.…”

Responsive advertising regulation: A case study from New Zealand

“…In summary, the ASA can be analysed using Harker and Harker's (2002) framework, comprising the macro elements of ASR; a solid legal regulatory framework, a complementary ASR framework, and effective industry compliance.…”