Senator Natasha Stott Despoja
Portfolio: Health and Ageing
Related: Status of Women
| Dated: 23 Jun 2005
Location: Parliament House - Canberra
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TRANSPARENT ADVERTISING AND NOTIFICATION OF PREGNANCY COUNSELLING SERVICES BILL 2005 |
Second Reading Speech
Senator STOTT DESPOJA (South Australia) (9.36 a.m.)I move:
That this bill be now read a second time.
I seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.
Leave granted.
The speech read as follows
The Transparent Advertising and Notification of Pregnancy Counselling Services Bill 2005 seeks to prohibit misleading and deceptive advertising and notification of pregnancy counselling services; promote transparency and full choice in the notification and advertising of pregnancy counselling services; improve public health; and minimise the difficulties associated with obtaining advice to deal with unplanned pregnancy.
Although the Trade Practices Act outlaws conduct that is liable to mislead the public as to the nature, the characteristics, the suitability for their purpose or the quantity of any services, most pregnancy counselling services are not subject to the Trade Practices Act because they usually do not charge for the information and other services they provide and are thus not considered to be engaging in trade or commerce.
This bill essentially makes pregnancy counselling services subject to the same laws regarding misleading advertising as organisations which are engaged in trade or commerce.
I have been campaigning for greater transparency in the advertising and notification of pregnancy counselling services since last year, when concerns about the way one pregnancy counselling service, Pregnancy Counselling Australia, was listed in the White Pages was first brought to my attention.
Those who contacted my office at the time were concerned that the way Pregnancy Counselling Australia was listed in the White Pages gave the impression it was an impartial or non-directive pregnancy counselling service, yet in fact it is run by a pro-life organisation, and does not refer for terminations.
I raised this issue in the Senate in August last year, and subsequently wrote to Sensis - the company which publishes and distributes the White Pages - urging it to remove Pregnancy Counselling Australia from the emergency and community help pages of the White Pages, and replace it with a non-directive pregnancy counselling service. I also urged Sensis to engage in corrective advertising to advise the public of the true nature of the service Pregnancy Counselling Australia provides.
Sensis responded to my letter by writing that, following concerns raised in 2003, it had, in conjunction with Pregnancy Counselling Australia, already altered two previous listings: Abortion Trauma and Crisis Pregnancy Counselling, to read Pregnancy Counselling Australia (Pregnancy termination alternatives and post-termination counselling.
Sensis went on to explain that Pregnancy Counselling Australia complies with its rules for listing in the 24 hour Service and Community Help sections of the White Pages, which include that the content of the listing must not misrepresent the nature of the service provided. In other words, Sensis believes the listing is as clear as it needs to be, and does not need to be altered - let alone removed. However, Birthline, the group behind this service, is not mentioned in the listing, nor is the fact that Pregnancy Counselling Australia does not provide referrals for terminations.
Sensis response, and my increasing awareness of a number of other pregnancy counselling services which like Pregnancy Counselling Australia, do not refer for terminations yet do not mention this in their advertising and notification material, has encouraged me to continue to push for greater transparency in this area, to ensure women are able to make informed choices about who they contact for information when they are deciding whether they can continue with a pregnancy, are seeking support in continuing their pregnancy, or have decided to have an abortion.
Specifically, my Bill does the following.
Firstly, it prohibits pregnancy counselling services from printing, publishing, distributing, displaying or broadcasting (or causing, permitting or authorising to be printed, published, distributed, displayed or broadcast) any advertising material that is misleading or deceptive as to the services it provides, or any notification of its services that is misleading or deceptive as to the nature of the services it provides.
Secondly, it requires that advertising and notifications by pregnancy counselling services which do not refer for terminations to include a statement that This service does not provide referrals for terminations of pregnancy or a like statement.
Breaching either of these conditions would result in a penalty.
Thirdly, my bill would ensure that telephone directories such as the White Pages can only include non-directive pregnancy counselling services in their 24 hour health and help call pages of these directories.
In my bill, non-directive pregnancy counselling service refers to a service that offers counselling, information services, referrals and support on all three pregnancy options (raising the child, adoption, and termination) and will provide referrals to terminations of pregnancy services where requested.
I would have liked this clause to be able to read that the directories must list a non-directive pregnancy counselling service in these pages, but unfortunately, due to a lack of Federal Government funding, there are currently no national 24 hour pro-choice pregnancy counselling services.
In fact, there are only two dedicated pro-choice pregnancy counselling services in Australia - Children by Choice in Queensland, and the Bessie Smyth Foundation in NSW. Neither receive any Commonwealth funding.
On the other hand, the Government allocates over $240,000 each year to the Australian Federation of Pregnancy Support Services (AFPSS) for pregnancy counselling services (the AFPSS is linked to pro-life organisations and does not refer for terminations).
The next clause of the bill would ensure that where a participating State receives financial assistance from the Commonwealth for making payments to pregnancy counselling services and the service is found to have engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct, or has not met the notification requirement of the Act, financial assistance is not payable until the service has ceased to engage in the misleading or deceptive conduct or has met the notification requirements.
This bill also makes Commonwealth-funded pregnancy counselling services ineligible to receive a grant of financial assistance unless it first discloses whether it is a pregnancy counselling service which does not provide referrals for terminations of pregnancy, or a non-directive pregnancy counselling service.
Additional reporting requirements contained in the bill include that the Minister must report annually on the amount of each payment to each State and each service provider, the name of each service provider receiving the payment, and whether each service provider is a pregnancy counselling service which does not provide referrals for terminations of pregnancy, or a non-directive pregnancy counselling service.
I commend the bill to the Senate.
Senator STOTT DESPOJAI seek leave to continue my remarks later.
Leave granted; debate adjourned.
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