There is an escape in the electoral law that allows deceptive ads to circulate outside the electoral campaign period.
Experts say this causes damage, not only to the reputation of a political candidate, but also to the electoral process.
In 2022, the independent senator of the Law, David Pocock, filed a formal complaint to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) about a digitally altered image of him that appeared a month after the date of the elections was established.
He saw Pocock tear his button shirt to reveal the official logo of the Green Festival, and was found in corflies on the road and trucks parked near the voting centers.
He was authorized by the convince Australian conservative political lobby group.
The AEC decided that the image was misleading and should not be shown during an electoral campaign. Advance Australia did not agree with the findings, but agreed not to show the image.
Alex Dyson’s altered altered flyers, authorized by Advance Australia, were placed in voter mailboxes throughout Wannon’s electorate of the candidate. Credit: Supplied
On March 31, the writings for the federal elections of 2025 were issued, officially initiating the electoral campaigns.
Then, when Advance Australia decided to distribute a similar image digitally altered in February of this year, this time with a new face, they were not violating any law.
In Wannon’s electorate, a digitally altered image of the independent candidate Alex Dyson was shared in flyers that show him scraping his shirt to reveal a shirt with the official logo of the Green Party.
Dyson said the image has caused mixed reactions.
“Some were obviously quite surprised who could see the small print that it was Australia’s advance. Other people, who may have a bad view or did not read the small print, were also surprised by a different reason.
The associate professor of the Law Faculty of Monash Yee-Fui NG said that Advance Australia “has been told that this is not allowed and that they have just discovered a lagoon in the rules.”
A spokesman for Advance Australia told SBS examines that AEC informed them that material like Mr. Dyson’s flyer “does not violate the electoral law.”
Section 329 of the Electoral Law prohibits the publication of material that probably cheats or deceives an voter who casts his vote, but only once the writings have been issued.
The director of the Democracy and Responsibility program of the Australia Institute, Bill Browne, said it depends on the spectator to evaluate what is misleading when it comes to political ads.
“A healthy amount of skepticism is always a good idea when evaluating advertising, and that is probably double for political advertising.”
