Advertising that facilitates hazardous and harmful alcohol use,
and supports the attitudes that contribute to this alcohol use,
is of concern.
In Australia, alcohol advertising practices are self-regulated
by a national voluntary Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code (ABAC).
The code outlines guidelines to ensure that advertising does
not have a strong appeal to children or adolescents or encourages
excessive alcohol consumption.
A recent review of the complaints process identified problems
with the Code and the self-regulatory process that adjudicates
alleged breaches.
In 2003, the Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy considered
a report into the self-regulation of the Code and found it to
be unsatisfactory. The MCDS required a number of changes to
the self-regulatory process, established a time line for these
changes to be made, put in place an independent monitoring process
and established a review date for consideration by the MCDS
in 2005.
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