Public Member Appointments to Complaints Board

MEDIA RELEASE

Thursday, 23 March 2006

Public Member Appointments to the Advertising Standards Complaints Board

The Chairman of the Advertising Standards Authority, Bruce Wallace, announced today the appointment of five public members to the Advertising Standards Complaints Board (ASCB). The Board meets monthly to adjudicate on complaints from consumers about advertising.

Mr Wallace said that “the appointments are significant as they increase the number of public members from four to five in a move aimed at providing a stronger public voice on the Board”. The public members were appointed after a public call for applications to join the ASCB. The four other Board members on the nine member Board represent advertisers, advertising agencies and the media.
The Chairman of the Complaints Board, Rob Thompson, from Wellington has been appointed as Chairman for a further three year term. Mr Thompson, a former Partner at Coopers & Lybrand and former Chairman of Capital Coast Health, has been a member of the Board for nine years and has an extensive knowledge of advertising standards.

Two other public members have been reappointed for a further three years each. Jenny Courtney, Deputy Chairman of the Board, is based in the Hawke’s Bay and has a legal background with extensive adjudication experience. Dr Jean Drage, from Christchurch, has a strong background in consumer advocacy, health and public policy. Margaret McKee, Chief Executive of the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust, was also reappointed for a second term as an alternate public member.

A new public member, Dr Greg Simmons, a public health physician based in Auckland, was appointed for three years.

“The ASA is very pleased that Dr Simmons has agreed to join the ASCB and welcomes his expertise in the health, nutrition and food safety areas”, Mr Wallace said.

Dr Simmons has an extensive background in public health reflected in his current position as a public health physician and spokesperson for the New Zealand Food Safe Partnership.

The fifth public member is Wellington businessman, Alan Haronga, whose term expires in December 2006.

ENDS

The Advertising Standards Authority is the self-regulatory body responsible for advertising standards in New Zealand across all media. It also administers the Advertising Standards Complaints Board, which provides a complaints service for the public to complain about advertising.
The following organisations are members of the ASA.
Association of New Zealand Advertisers, Communication Agencies Association of New Zealand, Letterbox Media Association, Magazine Publishers' Association (Inc), Newspaper Publishers' Association of New Zealand (Inc), New Zealand Cinema Advertising Council, New Zealand Community Newspapers Association, New Zealand Marketing Association (Inc), New Zealand Post, New Zealand Television Broadcasters’ Council, Online Publishers’ Group, Outdoor Advertising Association of New Zealand, Pay TV Group and Radio Broadcasters’ Association (Inc)

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