The Department of Health has defended its $11m advertising campaign for Covid vaccine boosters in response to concerns the communication began too late and is not prominent enough.
The health minister, Mark Butler, last month launched a six-week winter advertising campaign to encourage Australians to get vaccinated for Covid and influenza, and to raise awareness of antiviral medication for those who contract Covid.
The ads – which included taglines such as “take on winter”, “wintertime is the best time” and “kids will be kids” – targeted the broader community as well as sharing specific messages for First Nations adults and children.
Running on TV, radio, outdoor signs, online, social media and in print, Butler said the ads would be adapted and translated for people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
But four weeks on, the opposition health spokesperson, Anne Ruston, claimed the advertising was not cutting through.
“Mr Butler told Australians the government has a plan to boost vaccination rates and they would release a targeted $11m advertising campaign to inform Australians of how to stay safe this winter, but where is the campaign?” the Liberal senator said.
“We should be nearly four weeks into the six-week campaign and what has the government got to show for it?”
Prof Julie Leask, a public health expert at the University of Sydney, said the ad campaign was successfully sharing key messages about the importance of getting vaccinated. But she said she was not aware of the campaign being seen or broadcast widely, and was concerned it was difficult to find on the health department’s website.
“They’re putting out the key messages but I haven’t been able to judge the extent people are exposed to this messaging,” she said.
“It’s very hard to find. Some messages aren’t even on the department’s video page. To find the full suite of videos you have to do quite a bit of searching.
“That doesn’t mean the key audiences aren’t seeing them in a passive way, but to find the messages and share it yourself is quite difficult.”
Leask said the campaign may have benefited from starting before winter, and praised the translation of key messages into numerous languages and the tailoring for various communities.
In a statement, a health department spokesperson said the ad campaign would continue through winter.
“Communication on oral antiviral treatments is ongoing and is currently being provided through online channels, third parties that reach vulnerable groups, health and aged care providers, HealthDirect and the National Coronavirus Helpline,” they said.
“In addition, a public health information campaign is being developed to encourage people who are at higher risk of developing severe illness from Covid-19 to have early discussions with their health professional about whether they are eligible for oral antiviral treatments.”
On Tuesday Butler said new ad campaigns would roll out soon, and that his department was constantly reviewing its advertising.
“There will be a broader information campaign on antivirals to the community in the near future … We remain very open to continuing to review the range of our communication activities to the community and make sure that they’re up to date,” he said.
Last weekend’s meeting of national cabinet saw federal and state leaders agree to “provide consistent health messaging” around the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee’s recommendations on wearing masks indoors. State and federal leaders have pushed back on the idea of reinstating further mandates on mask-wearing. Butler said the time for such rules had passed, and instead called on Australians to voluntarily mask up if they needed.
The federal health spokesperson said information on the importance of masks in reducing transmission had been “consistently provided through a number of channels including press conferences, in media appearances, on social media and online, and this will continue”.
There is a lot governments can do that sit between personal responsibility and mandates. The COM-B model can help guide behavioural interventions: ➡️Capability "Here's how to wear a mask properly" ➡️Opportunity "Here's a free mask" ➡️Motivation "Masks help you protect others".
— Julie Leask (@JulieLeask) July 20, 2022
Butler and the chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, entered Tuesday’s media conference in the ministerial press briefing room of Parliament House wearing surgical face masks. Neither the Australian Capital Territory nor Parliament House have mask mandates, but the health officials said they wanted to set a good example to others.
“If you’re away from home and indoors in a crowded place, I really, very strongly suggest that you do wear masks,” Kelly said.
“I’m wearing a mask, now, you will notice the minister is wearing a mask as well. This is our leadership role for the community. This will not be forever. But for the next few weeks, this is the way we can actually influence the spread of the virus.”
Leask said this role-modelling behaviour was important, and encouraged other leaders to follow suit. She said there were downsides to mask mandates, such as penalties potentially disproportionately being levelled against marginalised or vulnerable communities, and suggested governments encourage use through more practical measures.
“We can’t be constantly mandate-dependent anytime we need the public to engage in important behaviour,” Leask said. “There’s a lot of things governments can do to support behaviour change and high rates of mask wearing, like handing them out at train stations and helping create social norm messages around their use.
“The public are receptive – despite Covid fatigue – of receiving messages that we need to reinstate extra precautions. But the awareness-raising takes time.”
