New review board for alcohol advertising

The Alcohol Advertising Review Board will counter advertising and marketing of alcohol in an attempt to decrease levels of alcohol-related violence.

It will also consider and adjudicate complaints from the community about alcohol advertising, providing an independent alternative to Australia’s current advertising self-regulation system.

The Board was launched by children’s health advocate and former Australian of the Year
Professor Fiona Stanley who will chair the Board.

Cancer Council WA Director Education and Research Terry Slevin said alcohol contributed
to about 5,000 new cancers in Australia each year.

“Too many public debates on alcohol stop at the unhelpful conclusion that the Australian ‘drinking culture’ is the problem. That drinking culture is no accident. It is deliberately and carefully created by the way alcohol is advertised and marketed by the industry. This initiative is about confronting those marketing practices,” said Slevin.

The initiative also has the support of the Australian Medical Association (AMA).

“Currently, there are no serious constraints on alcohol promotion. The AMA believes that the alcohol industry’s self-regulation of advertising has failed demonstrably and there is not the faintest chance that their system will ever work effectively,” said AMA Federal Vice-President Professor Geoff Dobb.

“This board will also highlight the fact that more action is needed to pull the alcohol industry into line. We believe that it is time for government to act and apply regulations to the promotion and marketing of alcohol where the industry itself has failed,” he said.

Candice de Chalain

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