Victorian Government Advertising Report 2024-25

Media advertising expenditure

The Victorian Government purchases the majority of its advertising through the government’s Master Agency Media Services (MAMS) state purchase contract.

The MAMS contract is managed by the Department of Government Services and covers media planning and buying on behalf of all Victorian Government public sector bodies.

For more information about the MAMS contract visit the MAMS page on the Buying for Victoria website.

Government advertising categories

The Victorian Government classifies paid advertising into three categories:

• Campaign advertising, which is designed to inform, educate, motivate or change behaviour. It requires strategic planning of creative and media buying to achieve set objectives.
• Functional advertising, which is intended to provide the public with information and is generally simple and informative and only appears for a short time. Examples include public notices, notifications of public meetings, requests for tender, enrolment notices, statutory or regulatory notices, and emergency or safety announcements.
• Recruitment advertising, which is used to promote a specific job vacancy or a limited number of roles. Larger scale, industry-wide recruitment by government bodies – such as that undertaken by Victoria Police – is usually considered 'campaign' advertising.

Collectively, functional and recruitment advertising are referred to as ‘non-campaign’ advertising.

For 2024–25, Optimum Media Direction Pty Ltd (OMD) was the government’s MAMS supplier for all campaign advertising and most ‘non-campaign’; advertising. The expenditure figures presented in this report include expenditure data supplied by OMD.

Expenditure on major government campaigns

Each year, government departments and public bodies publish information within their annual reports about their expenditure on major advertising campaigns, as required by the relevant Financial Reporting Direction¹.

For the 2024–25 financial year, departments and government bodies are required to report on advertising campaigns with a total media spend of $100,000 or greater (exclusive of GST), including:

• the name of the advertising campaign
• the start and end date of the campaign
• a summary of the campaign
• details of approved, planned and actual campaign expenditure for the reporting period (exclusive of GST).

Government advertising plans

Each year the Victorian Government publishes an annual advertising plan, which provides an overview of government advertising campaigns for that year.

Victorian Government Advertising Plans are available on the advertising plans and spend.

Footnotes

1. For 2024–25, the relevant Financial Reporting Direction was FRD 22 Standard Disclosures in the Report of Operations (April 2024).

Total government advertising expenditure for 2024–25 and previous years is shown in the chart below.

Non-campaign advertising, comprising functional and recruitment advertising, accounted for the remaining 22 per cent of advertising expenditure for the year.

In 2024–25, government agencies (such as the Transport Accident Commission, Visit Victoria and WorkSafe Victoria) accounted for 63 per cent of total government advertising expenditure, while government departments (such as the Department of Education) accounted for 37 per cent of advertising expenditure.

Victorian Government communication policies and guidelines ensure that government communication is effective, well managed and responsive to the diverse needs of the Victorian community. Policies and guidelines are reviewed and updated from time to time as needed.

Current policies and guidelines are available on our advertising and government communications web page.

Regional media campaign advertising expenditure

The Victorian Government’s Regional Communication Policy requires that government departments and agencies place 15 per cent of their annual campaign media expenditure in Victoria with regional and rural media.

This includes, but is not limited to, dedicated regional press, radio and outdoor media buys for Victorian regional or rural audiences. The government also uses digital and social media advertising to reach audiences in regional Victoria.

In 2024–25, the Victorian Government spent $19.6 million on campaign advertising for regional and rural audiences in Victoria (including via digital and social media). This figure represents 25.2 per cent of the government’s total campaign advertising budget in Victoria. This result is well above the 15 per cent regional media expenditure target for government campaign advertising.

Multicultural media campaign advertising expenditure

For 2024–25, the Victorian Government’s Multicultural Communications Policy required that government departments and agencies commit a minimum of 15 per cent of their total campaign media expenditure in Victoria towards multicultural media. This minimum campaign expenditure requirement increased from 5 per cent for 2022–23 and prior years, to 15 per cent for 2024–25 onwards.

In 2024–25, the Victorian Government spent $11.9 million on campaign advertising targeting multicultural audiences in Victoria, across all forms of media.

This expenditure represents 15.8 per cent of the government’s total campaign advertising budget in Victoria, an increase on the 14.95 per cent recorded for 2023–24.

The five ‘priority areas’ for government communication:

• Public safety and behaviour change
• Building social cohesion, civic pride and community spirit
• Supporting commercial and economic investment in Victoria
• Generation of revenue to support Victorian institutions and events
• Ensuring compliance with legislative requirements.

The chart below shows 2024–25 expenditure for each communication priority area, as a proportion of the government’s total expenditure on campaign advertising.

Expenditure for 2024–25 showed advertising via digital and social media platforms accounted for 56.3 cent of the government’s total spend, increasing from 52.8 per cent in 2023–24.

In 2024–25, expenditure on television advertising decreased to 4.6 per cent of all advertising, compared to 9.4 per cent in 2023–24, while expenditure on radio advertising remained steady at 10.9 per cent in 2024–25 (10.8 per cent in 2023–24).

Outdoor advertising comprised 14.8 per cent, a slight decrease from 15.4 per cent in 2023–24, while press advertising increased slightly to 11.1 per cent of total advertising expenditure (compared to 10.4 per cent in 2023–24).

Functional advertising

In 2024–25, the highest spending government bodies for functional advertising were the Department of Transport and Planning, the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action and the Victorian Electoral Commission.

Recruitment advertising

In 2024–25, the highest spending government bodies for recruitment advertising were the Department of Health, Department of Justice and Community Safety and the Department of Education.