The Hon Gary Gray, AO MP
Special Minister of State
Minister for the Public Service and Integrity
The Australian Government today tabled its annual full-year report for campaign advertising by departments and agencies.
“Restraint in advertising has been a key achievement of the Labor government and this restraint will continue under the latest savings proposal outlined on Tuesday of this week,” Special Minister of State Gary Gray said.
Today’s report states that the government’s media buy totalled $139.7 million in 2011-12, up $22.8 million on 2010-11, but still down 45 per cent on the Howard Government’s expenditure in 2007 of $254 million.
For the fourth consecutive year, campaign advertising expenditure is at least $100 million less than the 2007 expenditure.
“These are the only centrally collated, factually comparable numbers on record,” Mr Gray said.
The major campaigns in 2011-12 included:
Mr Gray said the report showed the Government was spending, in real terms, 45 per cent less than the Howard Government spent in 2007.
“If the cost of consultants and market research is included in the latest year’s spend, the total is $203.3 million – which compares, in real terms, to the estimated 2007 Howard era advertising spend of $375 million.
“That’s a saving of around 45 per cent.”
The 2011-12 report builds on the previous seven biannual reports and provides a high level of transparency in whole-of-government, consolidated reporting on campaign advertising by including media and associated expenditure.
The report includes all campaign advertising media placement costs where costs exceeded $250,000.
Data on campaign advertising media expenditure is sourced from the Government’s central advertising system, which consolidates advertising expenditure and optimises media discounts through whole-of-government negotiated media rates.
Revised recruitment advertising guidelines have reduced annual expenditure by around $30 million annually since 2009-10 and Minister Gray announced on Tuesday savings of a further $2 million per year through moving recruitment advertising online in recognition that more people are now looking for jobs on the internet.
The campaign advertising report can be found at http://www.finance.gov.au/advertising/campaign-advertising-reports.html.
Media contact: John Arthur - 0408 991 261
Background: In 2007, the media buy alone by the Howard Government was $254 million. At that time, records of the cost of consultants used in producing the advertising were not centrally collated. However, if the same proportions are applied as today, the total cost is $330 million or $375 million in 2011 dollars.