Australia Spent $127.9 Million on Key Messages for Community

Australia Spent $127.9 Million on Key Messages for Community
COVIDSafe on Iphone, Sydney, Australia, April 27, 2020. (Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images)
AAP
By AAP
12/17/2020
Updated:
12/17/2020

The coalition government has spent almost $1 billion on media campaign advertising since it came to power, new figures show.

The finance department’s latest report on campaign advertising showed $127.9 million was spent in the 2019/20 financial year to get a wide range of government messages out to the community.

Since the 2013/14 financial year, the government has spent $913.3 million, the department report revealed.

The past financial year’s figure was down on the $140 million spent in 2018/19.

The government is required to report on all advertising campaigns where spending is expected to be over $250,000.

The spending is overseen by an independent communications committee.

Among the biggest campaigns of the year were: COVID-19 Health ($47.8 million), Defence Force Recruiting ($31.3 million), COVID-19 Economic Response ($17.7 million) and Tax and the Economy Phase 2 ($7.1 million).

The two COVID-19 related campaigns were given special exemption from guidelines on the basis of a national emergency and “extreme urgency”.

The bulk of the spending went to digital ($42 million) and television ($36.2 million), while one in eight taxpayer advertising dollars went to print publications.

Paul Osborne in Canberra