Sexpo is coming to Brisbane in August and they are bringing their ads for a live sex webcam site to our public transport! Sign the new petition calling on Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to take urgent action!
As a mum of 3, whose children use public transport for school and sporting activities, I was appalled to hear that Sexpo 2017 was advertising on public buses in Western Australia, promoting their major sponsor: a live sex webcam site.
Type in this website and it takes you to a site where numerous prostitutes are advertising their live sex cam sites. Click or hover on any image and you are immediately directed to a live stream of a woman performing various sex acts.
Pictured: In 2015, Queensland school bus routes featured a similar ad listing the sex webcam site
A concerned mum in Western Australia contacted the Advertising Standards Bureau – our only regulatory body for ads – and received this response:
“While the ASB understands some members of the public would prefer sex-related products and services not to be advertised, legally they are allowed to be”.
The Australian government has already recommended that public transport not feature sexist advertisements. Countless inquiries have recommended changes, and nothing has been done! Recommendations made in the 2014 Queensland inquiry into sexually explicit advertising stated that the Australian Association of National Advertisers amend its Code of Ethics so that it puts beyond doubt that the ‘relevant audience’ for outdoor advertising includes children, and states that care should be taken to avoid locating advertisements which include sex, sexuality and nudity in places frequented by children.
Does that not include public transport that children use daily to go to school?
2011 Saw a Federal inquiry into billboard and outdoor advertising. One of the recommendations stated: “The Committee recommends that the Australian Association of National Advertisers introduce a code of practice for out-of-home advertising and for use by the Advertising Standards Board when determining complaints about out-of-home advertising. The code of practice should recognise that out-of-home advertisements: occupy public space and have the potential to affect the amenity of that space for some community members; can be viewed by an unrestricted audience, regardless of their target audience; and have a cumulative impact on the community through the social messages they convey.
The Transport Operations (Road Use Management) (Offensive Advertising) Amendment Bill 2016 states “In response to community concern about advertising on vehicles, the objective of the Bill is to minimise the amount of offensive advertising on Queensland registered vehicles by allowing the chief executive of the Department of Transport and Main Roads to cancel a vehicle’s registration to enforce Standards Board determinations”.
Yet when a concerned mum approached the Western Australia State Transport Department she was told to contact the public transport company directly. When she contacted the company TransPerth she was referred back onto the Advertising Standards Board.
But we already know the ASB's answer - they don't care! No more passing the buck!
This is why it's now time for the Australia government to create specific legislation to prevent sex industry services being advertised in public including on public transport and billboards. Australia is falling behind the rest of the world with France, Israel, Denmark, Iceland, Belgium and Norway already introducing strong legislation against this form of advertising.
Please sign this petition and let our government know we will no longer accept being passed from department to department with no one taking any responsibility for their lack of social obligations. Please urgently sign now and share with your networks.