Advertising Standards Bureau - Review of Operations 2013 | Page 27

The ASB complaints handling service applies
across all media and meets established industry
benchmarks and best practice
The listing of media types considered under the

AANA Code of Ethics grew again in 2013, with
a new category “flying banner” officially added
to properly identify the advertising format in
relation to a complaint relating to Case 0275/13
– Sexpo. The format has been considered in the
past as outdoor advertising (see Case 0005/13 Nova 969).
The ASB’s decision to include social media sites
such as Facebook and User Generated Content as
an advertising medium was supported in research
conducted during 2013. In the quantitative
stage of the research, some members of the
community were uncertain whether the Code
of Ethics would apply to advertising material on
the internet and social media websites such as
Facebook. Subsequently, in the qualitative stage,
focus group results showed that the community
was in agreement that social media advertising,
including advertiser and user generated content
on Facebook pages, should be considered under
the Code of Ethics. Focus groups agreed that
the same standards in advertising should apply

to all forms of media—both traditional and
social media.
The majority of advertisers indicated a high
level of satisfaction with their interaction with
the ASB.
In line with feedback received the ASB made
improvements to its complaints lodgement system
to accommodate complaints from mobile and
tablet devices.
During the second half of 2013, the ASB
undertook an extensive internal assessment of its
systems and processes against the International
Standard ISO 10002 - complaint handling
for organisations - as well as an assessment
against the ASIC Regulatory Guide 139 (which
is framed on the Australian Government’s
benchmarks for industry based consumer dispute
resolution schemes).
Assessment of ASB’s activities against both the
ISO 10002 and RG 139 were a valuable exercise
providing ASB with measurable assessment
criteria against which its systems, processes and
operations could be benchmarked.

RG 139 is based on the ‘Benchmarks for
Industry-Based Customer Dispute Resolution
Schemes’ (DIST Benchmarks), published by the
then Department of Industry, Science and
Tourism in 1997. These principles remain
in force.

Another element of the complaints handling
process includes the option of complainants
seeking an independent review of Board
determinations. During 2013 the Independent
Reviewers considered 7 cases recommending that
Board decision in two cases be confirmed and
that the Board decision in five cases be reviewed.
Independent Reviewers complete these reviews
in an average of 26 business days. These cases are
available from the ASB website.
The ASB also continued work to improve its
complaints administration and procedures
resulting in an excellent complaint resolution
timeframe of an average of 36.4 calendar days
throughout 2013.

Benchmark

Description

ASB compliance

Accessibility

The scheme makes itself readily available to customers by promoting knowledge of its