One of the tactics predators use to groom children for sexual abuse is exposing them to pornography. Yet the Ad Standards Board permits the sex industry to target children in advertisements for pornography and prostitution services. 

The ASB gives free rein to the sex industry to advertise sexual services in public spaces, including areas frequented by children. They have given the green light to billboards advertising strip clubs and brothels outside schools and on busy streets, to school buses promoting the porn industry convention Sexpo, mobile billboards advertising sex shops and now, even promos for live sex shows on public transport.

Despite industry codes that require advertisers to treat sex, sexuality and nudity with sensitivity to the relevant audience, the ASB have consistently defended the ‘rights’ of the sex industry to target children by advertising porn sites and sex industry venues in the public space. 

We’ve just had a Government Inquiry into the harms of pornography exposure to children. There is a wealth of research documenting the damaging impact of pornography on the attitudes and sexual practices of young people, including a massive increase in children as young as five entering treatment programs for sexually abusive behaviours, and child on child sexual assaults that have quadrupled in the last few years. Pornography has become a public health crisis, yet the Ad Standards Board continues to justify its promotion to children. 

Time and again, the ASB has failed- failed women, failed children, and failed to prioritise community wellbeing over its own financial interests. They have proved they cannot be trusted to regulate themselves. Enough is enough. 

We are calling on Senator the Hon Mitch Fifield to put a stop to this. Stop the sex industry from advertising pornography and prostitution services in public spaces.