26 April 2016

Mr Pat Conroy MP
Federal Member for Charlton
PO Box 747
CARDIFF NSW 2285

Dear Mr Conroy

Australian Government advertising campaign–National Innovation and Science Agenda

I am writing in response to your letter of 16 February 2016 regarding the Australian Government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda advertising campaign (the campaign), and your request that I consider undertaking an audit of the following phrase: ‘There’s Never Been a More Exciting Time to Be Australian.’ In particular, you asked that I consider the use of the phrase against Principles 2 and 3 of the 2014 Guidelines on Information and Advertising Campaigns by non-corporate Commonwealth entities (the 2014 Guidelines).

My office has conducted a limited scope assurance review focused on the use of the phrase in the campaign against Principles 2 and 3 of the 2014 Guidelines. The review was limited to an analysis of publicly available material and key documents and advice provided by the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science (Industry). The ANAO has not conducted an audit or a more general review of the advertising campaign.

I understand that a similar phrase was used by the Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP during a press conference on 15 September 2015 following his election to the Liberal Party leadership. That phrase is reported as: ‘There has never been a more exciting time to be alive than today and there has never been a more exciting time to be an Australian.’ In that context Mr Turnbull also alluded to a policy approach which was subsequently articulated in the Australian Government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda (the Agenda).

The following phrase appeared in the Australian Government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda report, a policy document which supported the Agenda: ‘There has never been a more exciting time to be an Australian’. Industry has advised my office that the report was developed prior to the advertising campaign, and that campaign funding was not used to develop the report.

Industry has further advised that the phrase ‘There’s Never Been a More Exciting Time to Be Australian’ did not appear in any campaign creative executions. Two variants of this phrase appeared in campaign materials: ‘Welcome to the most exciting time in Australia’s history’; and ‘The Ideas Boom. Building an exciting future for every Australian.’ My response relates to variants of the phrase which appeared in campaign materials.

Principle 2 of the 2014 Guidelines provides that where information is presented as a fact it should be accurate and verifiable. A key issue is whether the recipients of the information can distinguish between facts, comment, opinion and analysis. Principle 3 provides (among other things) that campaigns must be free of political argument and must not include party political slogans or images. The general tenor of Principle 3 is that it is intended to guard against the use of public money to ‘try to foster a positive impression of a particular political party or promote party political interests’. A natural reading of the variants of the phrase which appeared in the campaign would suggest that the statements were used to underscore the Australian Government’s posture on policy matters. Further, the statements were not presented as a technical fact requiring verification, and had the character of a comment or opinion.

Information provided to my office by the responsible department, and material available on the public record, indicates that key procedural elements of the Guidelines have been applied. This includes certification of the campaign’s compliance with the Guidelines by the department’s chief executive and review of the campaign by the Independent Communications Committee (ICC).

On this basis, and in view of the commitment of relevant Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) resources to an existing performance audit of government advertising (discussed below) I do not propose to commence an additional audit or expand the scope of the current audit to include the campaign. I will consider including the campaign in a future performance audit of government advertising.

Background

The ANAO sought information from Industry about the campaign, to help address the issues raised in your correspondence about the phrase: ‘There’s Never Been a More Exciting Time to Be Australian.’

The Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP is reported to have used the following phrase during a press conference on 15 September 2015: ‘There has never been a more exciting time to be alive than today and there has never been a more exciting time to be an Australian.’ The phrase was used in the following context, which also alluded to a policy approach:

We cannot be defensive, we cannot future proof ourselves. We have to recognise that the disruption that we see driven by technology, the volatility and change is our friend, is our friend if we are agile and smart enough to take advantage of it. There has never been a more exciting time to be alive than today and there has never been a more exciting time to be an Australian. We will ensure that all Australians understand that their Government recognises the opportunities of the future and is putting in place the policies and the plans to enable them to take advantage of it.

A part of that phrase was subsequently used in an Australian Government policy document, the National Innovation and Science Agenda report (see http://innovation.gov.au/page /national-innovation-and-science-agenda-report). The phrase was: ‘There has never been a more exciting time to be an Australian’. Industry advised the ANAO that the report is a policy statement prepared by an Innovation Taskforce within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, in collaboration with relevant departments, in the lead up to the announcement of the National Innovation and Science Agenda on 7 December 2015. Industry further advised that the report was developed prior to the advertising campaign, and that campaign funding was not used to develop the report.

In the 2015–16 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook the Australian Government provided $112.1 million over three years from 2016–17 to promote digital literacy and science, technology, education and maths (STEM) in school-aged children and to increase the participation of women in science institutions and innovative businesses. The measure included $28 million for a communications campaign to support implementation of the National Innovation and Science Agenda.

Industry advised the ANAO that the phrase ‘There’s Never Been a More Exciting Time to Be Australian’ was not used in any campaign creative executions (meaning for example, television, radio or print advertisements). Two variants of this phrase appeared in the advertising campaign:

• a television advertisement included the statement: ‘Welcome to the most exciting time in Australia’s history’; and
• print advertisements have included the statement: ‘The Ideas Boom. Building an exciting future for every Australian.’

The specific phrase ‘There’s Never Been a More Exciting Time to Be Australian’ was included on the campaign website (http://www.innovation.gov.au) until 8 March 2016. In this regard, Industry advised the ANAO that:

The line ‘There’s never been a more exciting time to be Australian’ was originally included on the innovation.gov.au website. The line was also included in the National Innovation and Science Agenda policy document, as well as a subheading on innovation.gov.au since 7 December 2015. The content for innovation.gov.au was informed by the policy document. The website continues to contain both policy and campaign materials. A decision was made by the department to remove the line from innovation.gov.au, although not from the policy document housed on innovation.gov.au as the policy document is a historical artefact. The website was in the process of being redeveloped in early March 2016 in terms of look and feel, content and structure and on March 8 the line in question was replaced with ‘Welcome to the Ideas Boom’, which is the campaign tagline that had been promoted heavily through campaign activity and, therefore, achieved a high level of awareness and recognition amongst target audiences.

Campaign statements

In your correspondence, you asked that I consider whether use of the phrase ‘There’s Never Been a More Exciting Time to Be Australian’ is consistent with Principles 2 and 3 of the 2014 Guidelines, as it is attributable to the Prime Minister. As discussed, I understand that the specific phrase did not appear in any campaign creative executions. My response relates to variants of the phrase which appeared in campaign materials.

Principle 2 of the 2014 Guidelines provides that campaigns should enable the recipients of the information to distinguish between facts, comment, opinion and analysis. Principle 2 further provides that where information is presented as a fact it should be accurate and verifiable. Among other things, Principle 3 provides that campaigns must be free of political argument and must not include party political slogans or images. The general tenor of Principle 3 is that it is intended to guard against the use of public money to ‘try to foster a positive impression of a particular political party or promote party political interests’.

Senator Nick Xenophon raised a similar issue with me in late 2015. In that case a phrase used in an election context (‘Open for Business’) was subsequently used in a number of policy settings and an advertising campaign promoting Free Trade Agreements in Asia (the Senator’s correspondence and my response can be found at https://www.anao.gov.au/work/correspondence/australian-government-advertising-campaign-promoting-free-trade-agreements-asia).

In my response to Senator Xenophon I noted that while the phrase had been used in a past election context, it had also been used to describe the Australian Government’s official posture on a range of policy matters, including the North Asia Free Trade Agreements and Australia’s foreign investment framework. Similarly, Mr Turnbull’s comments of 15 September 2015 were made in a political context but also alluded to a policy approach which was subsequently articulated in the Australian Government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda.

Industry advised the ANAO that the policy Agenda aims to create an environment that incentivises and rewards innovation, science and taking risks to succeed, and that the sentiments expressed in the advertising campaign were intended to: attract audience attention, increase awareness of the role of innovation in creating new opportunities, and contribute to the campaign objective of driving cultural change in Australia.

A natural reading of the variants of the phrase which appeared in campaign materials would suggest that the statements were used to underscore the Australian Government’s posture on policy matters addressed in the National Innovation and Science Agenda. Further, the statements were not presented as a technical fact requiring verification, and had the character of a comment or opinion.

Campaign certification and review

The Secretary of the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science has certified that the campaign complies with the Guidelines. The first phase (digital) of the campaign was certified on 4 December 2015. The second (and main) phase was certified on 5 February 2016. Copies of the certifications are located here: http://www.industry.gov.au/ AboutUs/CorporatePublications/Certifications/Pages/default.aspx

The Independent Communications Committee (ICC) reviewed the campaign on 4 December 2015 and 27 January 2016. It advised the Secretary of the department that:

The Committee is satisfied that the campaign is relevant to government responsibilities (Principle 1), and that the campaign is being developed in line with Principles 2 to 4 of the Guidelines. The Committee’s view has been formed at the communication strategy stage, and it has not considered the advertising materials. For this reason, the Committee has concluded that the proposed second phase of the National Innovation and Science Agenda campaign is capable of complying with Principles 1 to 4 of the Guidelines.

Copies of the ICC’s review reports are located here: http://www.finance.gov.au/advertising/ reports-by-independent-communications-committee/. The ICC’s advice that the campaign is ‘capable of complying’ with principles 1 to 4 of the Guidelines alludes to revisions in ICC processes implemented at the time the 2014 Guidelines were introduced. I advised Senator Xenophon in 2015 that the revised process appears to differ from past practice, which involved the ICC reviewing substantive advertising materials. The ANAO’s current performance audit is examining the evolution of the ICC’s role and the campaign Guidelines.

Current performance audit

As discussed, my office is currently undertaking a performance audit in four departments relating to the administration of government advertising arrangements from March 2013 to June 2015. The audit is examining the advertising framework administered by the Department of Finance, as well as the compliance of three campaigns with the applicable guidelines:

• the Intergenerational Report 2015 advertising campaign, administered by the Treasury;
• the Higher Education Reforms Campaign, administered by the then Department of Education; and
• the series of onshore and offshore counter people smuggling communication campaigns, administered by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.

I expect that the audit will be finalised towards the end of this financial year.

I will consider the inclusion of the National Innovation and Science Agenda advertising campaign as part of a future performance audit.

I trust you find this information of assistance. As this matter has been of interest to the wider community, I intend to place our correspondence on the ANAO’s website in the next day or so.

Yours sincerely

Grant Hehir
Auditor-General