Just let Kids be Kids

In shopping centres and on billboards across WA there is advertising material that children just shouldn’t see.

From hypersexualised photographs – usually of young women – to obscene language and images that are degrading or deal inappropriately with sex or violence, these ads are all too common.

I’ve been fighting for action on this serious issue for more than a decade.

It has been 10 years since the last inquiry was done into the Sexualisation of Children in WA.

Little has been done in the past decade since WA’s Commissioner for Children and Young People made those recommendations to protect our children.

To its credit, in August 2022, the State Government introduced legislation that will tackle offensive advertising on vehicles. This Bill was passed in March 2023.

While I welcome that as a good start, it doesn’t come close to dealing with the real problem.

In fact, banning the indecent paintwork on a small number of camper vans is just the very tip of the iceberg.

What about retailers who flaunt the flaws in the system to push advertising that is just obscene to families shopping with their children?

The managers of shopping centres have said to me they are powerless to take action.

The problem is that advertising standards are self-regulated, and self-regulation just doesn’t work.

By the time a complaint is made about an ad and Ad Standards have conducted an investigation, the company has already moved on, replacing the offensive material with something else.

Our children can’t unsee what they’ve seen and it is only going to get worse with digital advertising being implemented more broadly.

Images can now change in the blink of an eye.

I had the privilege of tabling the only official parliamentary petition about this child protection issue on Tuesday 15 November 2022 which was signed by thousands of concerned West Aussies. As a consequence, the petition was referred to the Standing Committee on Environment and Public Affairs for its consideration.

The government needs to get serious about this issue, which is having such a marked effect on the mental health of our children and survivors of sexual abuse.

If they can tackle harmful hypersexualised advertising on motor vehicles, there is no reason why they can’t tackle it in all its forms.

On 16 February 2023, my office was advised that the Committee had made the submission I co-authored, public. You can access a copy here.

Meanwhile, the response to the petition from the Minister for Child Protection can be found here and the response from the Minister for Women’s Interests can be found here.

While they acknowledge there is a problem, the McGowan Labor Government does not plan to do anything about it.

 New technology means that digital advertising on billboards, bus shelters, taxis, buses, shopping malls and sports grounds can include moving pictures that change quickly.

And while you can complain about offensive advertising to Ads Standards, Ads Standards has no power to order an advertisement’s modification or removal.

It’s really just a toothless tiger.

Clearly, self-regulation in advertising doesn’t work.

If this matter is of concern to you, write to the Minister for Child Protection and the Minister for Women’s Interests, asking them to press ahead with reforms, including penalties on advertisers who do not comply with Advertising Codes.

We have a duty to protect our children and young people.

Kids should be free to be kids.

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