NSW Gov Throws Money, Focus At CALD, First Nations Media Outlets

The NSW Government has raised the mandated minimum expenditure it will allocate to advertising in First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) media outlets.

The NSW Government currently has one contracted media agency, Optimum Media Direction (OMD), to deliver all media planning, buying and campaign implementation. OMD won the account in 2021 consolidating media buying for the NSW Government from five agencies to one.

OMD uses a combination of direct buying and buying through intermediaries to activate campaigns. When buying advertising with multicultural media, the intermediaries utilised by OMD are media sales agencies Leba, Spots and Space and S & J Media.

Leba is the primary intermediary used for traditional multicultural media. The diversity of the NSW multicultural media landscape is the primary driver for OMD utilising intermediary sales agencies.

These agencies provide expertise, long standing direct relationships and systems to place advertisements with multiple multicultural and Aboriginal media outlets effectively.

The current process was compared with alternative media buying models with reduced intermediaries. The review concluded that utilising the contracted media agency and an intermediary sales agency, remain the most effective workflow.

More communities across NSW will have access to up-to-date government information with an increased focus on multicultural and First Nations media outlets.

More than 190 languages are spoken at home across NSW, including Mandarin, Arabic, Cantonese and Vietnamese. NSW also hosts almost 90 independent multicultural and Aboriginal publications and 210 radio programs, spoken in more than 56 languages, that are trusted sources of information for many linguistically and culturally diverse communities.

As part of its commitment to greater inclusion across government services, the NSW Government undertook a review of government advertising practices in the multicultural sector.

All 10 recommendations of the 2023 Multicultural Media and Policy Review Report, released today, have been adopted. The recommendations include:

Elevating the required expenditure targeting multicultural and First Nations communities in government information campaigns from 7.5 per cent to 9 per cent;
Implementing more robust data collection and reporting practices to enhance understanding of media consumption behaviour within NSW multicultural and First Nations communities;
Increasing the total number of languages targeted across advertising campaigns to ensure broader reach and representation; and
Annual reporting on multicultural and Aboriginal advertising spend.

The review was completed by the Department of Customer Service and Multicultural NSW and involved consultation with multicultural media outlets and government agencies.

The full report and recommendations can be found at here.

Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government Jihad Dib said: “This report marks an important step forward in our drive for a more inclusive approach to government communications.

“The increased focus on distributing information through independent multicultural and First Nations media will help ensure government agencies are sharing important messages with the diverse communities of NSW.

“The detailed findings of this review provide a roadmap for the NSW Government to build further understanding, transparency and effectiveness of its multicultural advertising practices.”

Minister for Multiculturalism Stephen Kamper said: “NSW has one of the most culturally, linguistically, and religiously diverse populations in the country with one in four people speaking a language other than English at home, so it is crucial NSW Government information resonates with every community.

“NSW Government advertising campaigns should be targeted to reach all communities with important messages. This was highlighted during COVID-19, where community safety relied on effective communications to all NSW residents.”

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Diversity and inclusion NSW Government OMD