A review of official advertising finds governments routinely spending public money to spruik their own achievements. 

Of the nearly $200 million spent each year by the federal government on advertising, nearly $50 million is spent on politicised campaigns, according to a new report. 

Over the past 13 years about $630 million, or a quarter of all federal campaign advertising, was spent on campaigns that spruiked government achievements - and spending spiked on the eve of each federal election, the Grattan Institute says. 

The experts say it is a problem on both sides of politics, and at federal and state level. 

Of the 10 most expensive politicised federal campaigns in the past 13 years, half were approved by Labor governments and half by Coalition governments. Auditors-general often criticise state government advertising campaigns too.

In the lead up to the 2019 federal election, the government spent about $85 million of taxpayers’ money on politicised advertising campaigns - on par with the combined spend by political parties on TV, print, and radio advertising.

“Weaponising taxpayer-funded advertising for political advantage wastes public money, undermines trust in politicians and democracy, and creates an uneven playing field in elections,” the Grattan Institute think tank says. 

The report says Australia needs tougher rules and tighter processes at federal and state level to prevent governments from exploiting taxpayer-funded advertising.

“Government advertising campaigns should be allowed only where they are necessary to encourage specific actions or drive behaviour change,” the report suggests, 

“Campaigns that promote government policies or programs, without a strong call-to-action, should be prohibited.

“An independent expert panel should assess all government advertising campaigns before they are launched. If the panel deems a campaign to be politicised, or otherwise not value for money, it should not run.”

The full report is accessible in PDF form, here.