Australia’s advertising market is poised to deliver a record level of advertising expenditure in the month of June after sealing its fourth consecutive year of record financial year advertising expenditure, the latest SMI data has shown.

Total agency bookings for the 2015/16 financial year have lifted 3.4 per cent to a record $7.14 billion, while the figures for the month of June are slightly down 2.1 per cent at $631.3 million from 2015’s record June result, but the addition of late digital bookings at the end of the month should ensure another record level is set in two weeks’ time.

The month has been notable for a record level of Federal-election inspired a dvertising expenditure – total Government Category ad spend hit $81.5 million compared to the $35 million spent in the month prior to the 2013 election – and had the knock-on effect of significantly reducing ad spend from numerous key Product Categories.

“The Federal election has had both positive and negative impacts on Australia’s advertising market,’’ SMI AU/NZ managing director Jane Schulze said.

“With the Government Category so dominant this month, many advertisers chose to remain quiet which is evidenced by the fact that seven of the 10 largest SMI Product Categories significantly reduced their year-on-year ad spend in June.’’

Among the major media, the Government category delivered the greatest share of spend to TV (56 per cent) followed by digital (19 per cent) and then newspapers (10 per cent). The SMI data also shows the bulk of that digital spend was directed to the quality content sites operated by traditional newspaper publishers.

SMI’s financial year data also continues to demonstrate the buoyancy of Australia’s media market.