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Recommendations
Recommendation
1
4.76 The Committee recommends that the
Senate refer to the Finance and Public Administration References Committee for
inquiry and report the matter of the impact of outcome budgeting for
appropriations on Parliamentary consideration and approval of government
expenditure, and the accountability of government for such expenditure.
Recommendation
2
5.70 The Committee recommends that for all
major government advertising campaigns, the responsible department should
conduct or commission a qualitative evaluation of key facets of the campaign
(such as media placement strategy, campaign concept, response of target
audience, value for money and so on) and report the evaluation results to the
MCGC.
Recommendation
3
6.71 The Committee recommends that the
government update the 1995 Guidelines on Australian Government Information
Activities as a matter of urgency.
Recommendation
4
6.72 The Committee recommends that the
Government adopt the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit's draft
guidelines for government advertising, amended as follows:
- insert after the third dot point
under 'Material should be relevant to government responsibilities' three
additional dot points as follows:
- No expenditure of public money should
be undertaken on mass media advertising, telephone canvassing or information
services, on-line services, direct mail or other distribution of unsolicited
material until the government has obtained passage of legislation giving it
authority to implement the policy, program or service described in the public
information or education campaign.
- Nothing in (a) should be taken to
prohibit the government from seeking a public response to draft legislation or
to Green or White papers. Advertising for public response to draft legislation,
however, must take the form of inviting submissions and formal comment on a
published bill or discussion paper.
- Where a proposed public information
or education campaign covers a matter which does not require legislation, an
appropriation for the specific purpose of the public information or education
campaign must be obtained.
- The only exclusions to these
requirements are where major issues of public health, public safety or public
order may arise at short notice.
- replace the guideline heading
'Material should not be liable to misrepresentation as party political' with
heading 'Material should not be directed at promoting party political
interests'.
Recommendation
5
7.81 The Committee recommends that the
government implement, as a matter of urgency, a mechanism to monitor and
enforce compliance with guidelines on government advertising activity.
Recommendation
6
7.84 The Committee recommends that once an
advertising campaign valued at $250,000 or more has been given final approval
by the MCGC, the advertisements must be submitted to the Auditor-General by the
department that is incurring the expenditure. The Auditor-General must report
back to the department and the portfolio minister as soon as possible whether the
campaign complies with the revised guidelines on government advertising, and
the extent of any non-compliance.
Recommendation
7
7.85 The Committee recommends that every
six months the Auditor-General must table a report in the Parliament which
details his or her assessment against the guidelines of the advertising
campaigns that have been implemented during that six-month period.
Recommendation
8
7.86 The Committee recommends that if a
department continues with a campaign that the Auditor-General has assessed as
not complying with the guidelines, and has provided reasons for that course of
action, the Auditor-General must include the departmental response in the
tabled report. If a department has amended a campaign in the light of the
Auditor-General's initial assessment, the Auditor-General will not table the
initial report but only the final assessment made of the campaign.
Recommendation
9
7.90 The Committee recommends that the
government comply with the Senate Order of 29 October 2003 relating to agency
advertising and public information projects.
Recommendation
10
7.94 The Committee recommends that the
Government Communications Unit in the Department of the Prime Minister and
Cabinet publish an annual report on government advertising, commencing in
financial year 2005-06. The annual report should be modelled on the Annual
Report on the Government of Canada's Advertising 2003-04. It should include:
- a total figure for government
expenditure on advertising activities;
- total figures by agency for
expenditure on advertising activities;
- figures for expenditure on media
placement by type and media placement by month; and
- detailed information about major
campaigns, including a statement of the objectives of the campaign, the target
audience, a detailed breakdown of media placement, evaluation of the campaign
including information about the methodology used and the measurable results,
and a breakdown of the costs into 'production', 'media placement' and
'evaluative research'.
Recommendation
11
7.95 The Committee recommends that from
financial year 2005-06 the annual reports of each government agency must
include:
- a total figure for the agency's
advertising expenditure; and
- a consolidated figure for the cost
for each campaign managed by that agency.
Recommendation
12
7.96 The Committee recommends that from
financial year 2005-06 the annual reports of each government agency must
include:
- a total figure for departmental
expenditure on public opinion research;
- a breakdown of the type of research,
including the expenditure on research for advertising as a percentage of total
research costs;
- highlights of key research projects;
and
- a listing of research firms used by
business volume.
Recommendation
13
7.97 The Committee recommends that public
opinion and market research commissioned by government departments be made
available by departments to the public through the National Library of
Australia and the Parliamentary Library.
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