Being distracted by the latest fast food deal on the drive home from work could soon be impossible for residents in the City of Melville. At a meeting last week, the Melville council took the first steps towards a potential ban on advertising alcohol and unhealthy food on city property. City staff have been asked to investigate if such an advertising policy would be feasible within the next 12 months, but a spokesperson told PerthNow they want alcohol and unhealthy food advertising to be prohibited “as soon as possible”.
The council will make one more immediate move by asking oOh!media — the company responsible for installing and maintaining advertising on more than 50 local bus stop shelters — to voluntarily restrict alcohol and unhealthy food advertising on bus shelters for the remaining eight years of its contract. Advertising opportunities for the bulk of the 300 shelters on Melville streets are managed directly by the city, which can’t implement new restrictions or make changes to the rules without a council policy. The cities of Nedlands, Mandurah and Kwinana and the Town of Mosman Park already have similar policy measures that restrict alcohol and unhealthy food advertising on city property, while local authorities in Subiaco and South Perth already include such prohibitions in their contracts and agreements with suppliers.
But Canning council refused to do the same when it considered a similar policy in 2023, with mayor Patrick Hall adamant at the time that .
