Advertising industry tries to regulate credibility

The accreditation program is being rolled out by the Advertising Federation of Australia (AFA), and is backed by the Federal and NSW Governments. According to Russel Howcroft, national chairman of the AFA, the scheme is aimed at boosting professionalism within the industry.

“In the same way that the qualification ‘certified practising accountant’ has professionalised the accounting industry, the AFA is working towards professionalising the advertising industry,” he says.

Howcroft also claims the scheme is a response to dramatic changes within the advertising industry over the past several years.

“Agencies are results-driven and now offer integrated communications that go well beyond traditional advertising. They also operate in an environment of increasing regulation and government scrutiny.”

Lesley Brydon, executive director of the AFA, claims the scheme is being implemented to improve the poor perception held towards the advertising industry by the community.

“The driving influences behind the accreditation scheme is the perceived lack of status of the advertising industry, and the lack of recognition by clients to the contribution that they make,” says Brydon.

But while the AFA is keeping the focus on the public relations problems suffered by the industry, the scheme is as much an attempt to evade the grasp of Federal Government regulation.

Brydon argues that such self-imposed regulation offers the most effective way of ensuring professional standards, and claims that government regulation in advertising is generally not seen as the best way to do things.

“Government regulation is a costly exercise that leads to a big sacrifice in efficiency, and the current government agrees with us that the industry imposing regulations upon itself is the best way it can take control of its future.”

The AFA introduced the scheme to its 165 member base in late November, with it requiring agencies to undergo training to ensure understanding and compliance with the AFA's code of ethics, as well as the Privacy Act, the Spam Act, the Trade Practices Act and various other codes.

Agencies subscribing to the code will also be required to provide 24 hours of continuing professional development a year for 75 per cent of its employees.

It will not be mandatory for agencies to get involved with the scheme, but the AFA insists it will work as an advantage for those who are a part of it. It claims the Federal Government's Communications Unit, as well as its NSW equivalent, have both signalled they will make it a prerequisite for agencies to be a part of the scheme in order to be considered for government work.

The AFA claims that if the launch is successful in Australia, it is likely that accreditation will eventually become mandatory.