Government to ‘rationalise’ advertising resources with new agency
Advertising and communications across more than 30 state government departments will be consolidated into a new “hub” run by the Department of Premier and Cabinet, but there is uncertainty over how much the agency’s executive director will be paid and what impact the savings measure will have on existing public servants.
The Department of Premier and Cabinet posted a job advertisement last week for an executive director of a new “Government Advertising and Insights Hub” to be stood up in early 2025.
The hub will coordinate advertising for more than 30 state government agencies, according to the job listing.
The executive director role has an advertised annual salary between $257,462 and $429,104 and will be responsible for delivering the state government a “centralised brand advertising service” that builds “across-government brand equity”.
After the Opposition raised questions in Parliament on Tuesday afternoon, Premier Peter Malinauskas said he contacted DPC chief executive Damian Walker who advised that “there is no prospect of this person getting paid over $400,000”.
“He advised me accordingly that the ad is being withdrawn to actually reflect what the intention [is] here,” Malinauskas told ABC Radio Adelaide.
“I’ve been advised they’ll be getting less than $300,000, not anywhere near $400,000.”
You might like
All state government advertising campaigns will still be governed by the existing Government Communications Advisory Committee process, a DPC spokesperson said, adding that the government’s existing master media contracts with Wavemaker and Carat will continue as planned.
The consolidation effort comes after the state government’s advertising spend has reached record levels over the last five years.
During the Marshall Government, taxpayers spent $29.3 million on advertising in 2019-20, rising to $39.1 million in 2020-21 and $41.2 million 2021-22.
The Malinauskas Government’s first full financial year in office saw advertising spending swell to a record $47.6 million before tailing off to $39.7 million in 2023-24.
This includes controversial spending on SA Health’s $1.9 million “building a bigger health system” campaign and the $1.6 million “State Prosperity Project”, but it also covers standard public messaging around issues like drink driving, bushfire preparedness and event promotions.
Solstice Media, the publisher of InDaily, receives state government advertising in its titles, including from the campaigns covered by this article.
Stay informed, daily
Malinauskas told parliament on Tuesday that the government recently completed a review of how it manages advertising and is now “leading a bit of change within the public sector in the way that government advertising occurs across agencies”.
“Individual agencies have a group of people within their department that are responsible for public communications, including government advertising,” he said.
“We have formed the view that we can actually rationalise the volume of resources by having a consolidated effort within government to actually do that piece of work rather than every agency having their own public relations, communications, advertising expertise.
“Instead, we would consolidate that, and then agencies would in effect have to bid in to government centrally to be able to… utilise the resources of that consolidated government communications exercise.”
InDaily asked DPC how many staff will be in the new hub and if existing departmental advertising and communications staff would lose their jobs.
A DPC spokesperson said the hub’s resourcing is “currently being determined”.
“A Machinery of Government (MoG) process is currently underway in collaboration with Agencies to carefully consider and identify existing resources to be transferred to the Hub from agencies,” the spokesperson said.
Malinauskas told ABC Radio this morning that “the intention is to realise a saving across the public sector” and the restructure would be “moving things in the opposite direction of having too many spin doctors”.
In parliament, he also criticised existing government spending on advertising.
“Without me wanting to be pejorative towards any effort that occurs within government, which undoubtedly always commences with good intent, the type of advertising where we see us having public messaging that hot water comes out of hot taps, this sort of over the top trying to find an excuse for a public campaign where it might not necessarily be necessary, I think just invites an inquiry of examination which the government has undertaken,” the Premier said.
Opposition government accountability spokesperson Ben Hood said: “The priorities of Mali from marketing are clear – spin first, South Australians last.”
“Instead of hiring another spin doctor, maybe they should try delivering real relief for the people they’re supposed to represent,” he said.
