Are political advertisements under an obligation to tell the truth?
Political advertisements promote a political party, candidate, or agenda. These ads are made by political parties themselves or by any stakeholders who are trying to influence voters.
There is currently no restriction on the amount of advertising by political parties or the channels in which they communicate. This means that during election season, voters are exposed to a large number of political advertisements through many different channels, such as television, texts, and emails.
There are currently no legal requirements for the content of political advertisements to be factually correct.
Political advertisements only need to meet some very basic requirements. Truth is not a requirement. The main requirements include stating who authorised the advertisements and not misleading voters on how to vote. Therefore, the lack of fact-checking means parties and politicians can lie in their advertisements in an attempt to influence voters. There are no consequences to lying to voters in political advertising.
According to a study conducted during the last federal election, 70% of respondents don't trust the government.[3] The fact that political advertisements don’t have to be truthful causes this distrust. The traditional two-party system is also partly to blame for the government's lack of integrity and accountability, causing Australians to feel more apathetic and disillusioned.
Independents and minor party candidates are helping combat this, as they threaten major parties' power and give voters a chance to hold the government to account.
At the state level, both South Australia and the ACT have enacted laws that enforce truth in political advertising laws. However, this does not influence the federal level.
[3] Alvaro, A. (2024, March 6). Tasmanians engaged in the campaign? ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-06/tas-state-election-are-tasmanians-engaged-in-the-campaign/103545140.