Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice

The Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice regulates program content on commercial free-to-air television, including:

  - program classification;
  - accuracy, fairness and respect for privacy in news and current affairs;
  - non-program time on television;
  - placement of commercials and program promotions;
  - loudness of commercials in respect to adjacent programming.

The Industry Code of Practice sets out a formal complaints process for matters covered by the Code. To find out more information about the complaints process please refer to Section 7 of the Industry Code of Practice which can be downloaded via the link provided at the bottom of this page.

How do I make a complaint?

If you believe a station has acted contrary to the Industry Code of Practice you can make a complaint to the station concerned. There are three methods available to viewers to lodge a complaint under the Code. 

 1. You can lodge your complaint electronically by using the Electronic Lodgement System hosted on the Free TV Australia website:

Free TV Australia - Electronic Lodgement System 

 2. You can send a written letter to WIN Television Head Office at the following address:

WIN Television Head Office
Locked Bag 8800
Wollongong NSW 2500

  3. You can send your complaint to WIN Television Head Office by fax to the following number:

Fax: (02) 4227 3682

Please note that your complaint must be made in writing and should be lodged as soon as possible. Television stations will provide a substantive written response to a written complaint about matters covered by the Code where the complaint is received within 30 days of the broadcast.  Lodging your complaint within 30 days of the broadcast, triggers the complaints handling procedures for alleged breaches of the Industry Code of Practice. 

What information should your complaint include?

Your complaint should include a minimum of the following information:

  - Your name, address and telephone number
  - Name of program or advertiser/product
  - The station on which you saw or heard the program/advertisement
  - The date and time you saw or heard it
  - Reasons for your concerns

When should you expect to receive a reply?

The Industry Code of Practice requires a station to respond to you within 30 working days of receiving a complaint about a matter covered by the Code.

What can you do if you don't receive a reply or you do not consider the reply to be adequate?

If the station has not written back to you within 60 days or you do not consider the response to be adequate, you may send your complaint to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).  ACMA will need a copy of your original complaint to the station, as well as a copy of the station's reply.

WIN Television policy in relation to complaints and feedback received by email and telephone

WIN Television appreciates that, for many people, telephone or email is the preferred way of expressing a view about programming.  WIN Television welcomes feedback from the general public and its viewers as a valuable means of engagement with its audience.  Under the Industry Code of Practice, WIN Television stations are not obligated to provide a written response to telephone calls or email comments that are not related to the Code.

WIN Television policy in relation to complaints and feedback received by email, telephone and via its Website is defined below:

  1. Where comment that concerns a matter that is clearly covered by the Industry Code of Practice is received via the Contact Us forms available on this website, that this will dealt with via the formal complaints process set out under the Code of Practice;

  2. Where comment that concerns a matter that is clearly covered by the Industry Code of Practice is received by email, that this will dealt with via the formal complaints process set out under the Code of Practice. To assist in this regard, WIN Television has provided a standard complaint form which can be downloaded at the bottom of this page;

  3. Where comment or feedback is received by telephone, that the complainant will be advised that complaints need to be made in writing and made aware of the existance of the  Industry Code of Practice;

  4. Where general comment or feedback is received by telephone or email, that the nature of the complaint or feedback is noted and brought to the attention of relevant staff.

However, in the event that you consider WIN Television’s response to your complaint to be inadequate, you will not have an entitlement to complain to the ACMA. That entitlement will only be available where a complaint is made in the first instance by one of the three methods specified in the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice, as set out above.

I wish to make a complaint about the content of a specific commercial?

If your complaint is in relation to the content of a specific television commercial you have seen and relates to items such as discriminatory portrayal of people, concern for children, use of language, portrayal of violence, portrayal of sex, sexuality and nudity and/or health and safety, you should address your complaint to:

  The Advertising Standards Bureau
  Level 2
  97 Northbourne Avenue
  TURNER ACT 2612

  Tel: (020 6262 9822
  Fax: (02) 6262 9833

Related Documentation and Forms

(Last modified on 13 May 2010)