About us
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is New Zealand’s advertising industry regulator. We set the standards for advertising and support responsible advertising through education and a free consumer complaints process. Our mission is to make every ad a responsible ad.
Operations
The ASA has six staff who manage the complaints process, code reviews, training, education, and communication.
We operate with a budget of about $1,000,000 per annum funded from member subscriptions and advertiser and media levies. You can find our latest Annual Report here.
Advertising self-regulation
As part of the regulatory framework, advertising in New Zealand is self-regulated by the ASA. This means the ad industry has voluntarily set up and pays for education, ad standards codes and a complaints process.
Self-regulation encourages the industry to take responsibility to ensure legal, decent and honest advertising communications to consumers. The self-regulatory system works because:
- Most advertisers do not want to deliberately mislead or offend current or potential customers.
- It provides a level playing field for businesses, which is vital for fair competition.
- It is faster for consumers and more cost-effective for advertisers than paying legal costs.
Advertising self-regulation works alongside and supports existing Government laws and regulation. In New Zealand there are dozens of different pieces of legislation that restrict advertising in some way.
Internationally, there have been self-regulatory codes and standards since the early 1920’s.
In New Zealand, the Committee of Advertising Practice was established in 1973 by the Newspaper Publishers Association, the NZ Broadcasting Commission and the Accredited Advertising Agencies Association.
Our name was changed to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), and we were incorporated in 1990. We now have members representing advertisers, agencies and media companies.
ASA Objective
Our objective is to maintain proper and generally acceptable standards in advertising through effective self-regulation via:
- Advertising Codes of Practice
- Industry engagement and funding
- ASA Complaints Board
- ASA Complaints Appeal Board
Governance Board
The Governance Board sets the strategic direction of the ASA and ensures it is properly operated and funded. The five-member board has an independent Chair, a treasurer and a sector representative from advertisers, agencies and media companies.
Independent Complaints and Appeal Boards
The ASA Complaints Board and the ASA Complaints Appeal Board both have a public member majority and a public member Chair. The Complaints Board has nine members, five public and four industry and meets fortnightly. The Appeal Board has three members, two public and one industry and meets on demand.
Advertising Codes
The Advertising Codes are the rules for advertising in New Zealand. They consist of the Advertising Standards Code and six sector Codes where advertisers are expected to take particular care: Alcohol, Children, Food and Beverages, Finance, Therapeutic and Health, and Gambling.
Industry Association Members of the ASA
- Association of New Zealand Advertisers (Inc)
- Commercial Communications Council (Inc)
- Interactive Advertising Bureau of New Zealand
- Magazine Publishers’ Association (Inc)
- Marketing Association (Inc)
- Newspaper Publishers’ Association of New Zealand (Inc)
- Out of Home Media Association Aotearoa
- Radio Broadcasters Association (Inc)
International Membership
The ASA is a founding member of the International Council for Ad Self-Regulation (ICAS). ICAS is a global platform which promotes effective advertising self-regulation.
