All Australians have equal rights of access to information about government policies, programs and services, regardless of their language or cultural backgrounds. The Government recognises and values the role of the ethnic media in informing people who do not speak English well, or not at all, about government services and initiatives.

To ensure that information produced by NSW public agencies reaches this group of people, the NSW Government has made a commitment to increase advertising placements in the ethnic media - newspapers, radio and, where available, television.

From 1 February 1996 a minimum of 7.5% of the campaign advertising budget allocated to newspaper advertising by Government agencies will be allocated to the placement of ads in non-English language newspapers. Similar targets are also to be met in electronic advertising expenditure for the use of non-English language radio and where applicable, television.

Whilst the Government is not placing a target for non-campaign advertising, agencies are reminded of the need to reach the entire NSW population in areas such as employment advertising, public notices, grants, programs etc. In these circumstances, consideration should also be given to the benefits of using the ethnic media.

To ensure that the placement of Government advertising is as efficient as possible, the Government will require all ethnic publications who wish to be included on the Government's list of ethnic newspapers to provide evidence of an official audit or a statutory declaration of their circulation by the end of January, 1996.

The NSW Government Advertising Agency has been given the responsibility for implementing and monitoring this policy.

For further information, please contact:

Colleen J. Moore
Director, Government Information and Advertising
Tel: (02) 339 7539 

Bob Carr
Premier