Online political advertising raises concerns about the spread of misinformation, non-transparent advertising and non-compliance with Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) rules. To investigate this, the Ad Observatory partnered with the McKinnon Foundation ahead of the 2025 Federal Election to track political advertising in key electorates. The aims were to track the prevalence of political advertising overall, and within it the use of misinformation, non-transparency and potential non-compliance with AEC rules.

This report demonstrates that misleading information - whether about political policies or an advertiser’s own aims and funding sources - flourishes in online election advertising and lacks transparency and accountability. Misinformation, scare tactics and messages exploiting cost of living pressures of ‘every day’ struggling Australians is central to both online and other election ads. The report proposes five recommendations to strengthen transparency and improve election advertising online.

Key findings

• Political ads accounted for only a small percentage (around 3%) of ads that participants received.
• The online advertising environment is popular with third party groups spanning authentic community and non-party political actors, through to astroturfers.
• Many of the political ads identified were rife with decontextualised and misleading information.

Recommendations

1. National truth in political advertising laws to cover misleading or deceptive factual claims.
2. Real-time disclosure of third-party funding and donors.
3. Consistent blackout rules across broadcast and digital media.
4. Platform accountability requiring accurate classification and disclosure of advertisers.
5. Independent monitoring support.