Independent MP Zali Steggall has re-introduced a private member’s bill to establish truth in political advertising laws at the federal level.
The proposed bill would create a Political Advertising Standards Board within the Australian Electoral Commission framework.
The board would handle complaints, monitor advertisements and order corrections, retractions and the removal of unlawful ads.
Under the proposed laws, political advertisements would be required to be truthful, factually accurate and backed by evidence.
The bill would also ban misleading claims made by omission, exaggeration or ambiguity.
The legislation also targets AI-generated political content, requiring clear disclosure for deceptive deepfakes or manipulated audio and visual material. Non-compliant ads could face penalties of up to $300,000.
Steggall argued the current system allows major parties to mislead voters and that declining trust in political institutions makes regulation more urgent.
“We continue to allow voters to be scammed, by misleading and deceptive political advertising,” Steggall said.
“As artificial intelligence becomes more powerful and accessible, the risks to our democracy are growing.
“Deepfakes and synthetic media can now be created quickly, cheaply and convincingly. Our electoral laws must keep pace. Australians expect honesty from the people asking for their vote,” Steggall added.
South Australia and the Australia Capital Territory currently have truth in political advertising laws in place, but these only apply to paid election advertising and do not extend to social media or other online posts.
To be clear, Steggall’s proposed law would not outlaw deepfakes or synthetic media, it won only mandate the creators of paid political advertising to disclose it as such.
Research from UNSW’s Human Rights Institute found 72 per cent of voters said they saw misleading political ads during the campaign, while 42 per cent said they saw misleading political ads daily over the same period.
A separate study from Canberra University found 83 per cent of respondents believed truth in political advertising laws should be introduced nationwide.
This is Stegall’s second attempt at the legislation after first proposing it in 2021.
