Property developers could be denied permission to start construction work on a project if they flout proposed guidelines designed to stamp out sexist advertising.
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The government wants to attach conditions to development approvals to prevent developers from using overtly sexualised content to promote housing projects.
Planning Minister Mick Gentleman initiated the crackdown in March, as he took aim at material used by construction giant Geocon to market its Tryst development as being "out of touch with community expectations".
Geocon boss Nick Georgalis reacted angrily to threats of added regulation, warning that it would push back against any attempts to stymie the company's "creativity, individuality and expression".
Senior planning official Geoffrey Rutledge told this month's annual report hearings that his directorate had now developed guidelines which would be used to regulate advertising on hoardings and fencing around construction sites.
Mr Rutledge said draft guidelines had been circulated internally, including to the ACT Human Rights Commission and office of LGBTIQ+ affairs, but could not provide a timeline for when they might be implemented.
The ACT Planning and Land Authority would impose the advertising standards as an extra planning condition to a development approval, he said.
That means developers would not be permitted to start construction work unless they complied with the guidelines.
The government would not release a copy of the draft guidelines to The Canberra Times, and it remains unclear exactly how sexualised would be defined.
"By putting these guidelines through as a condition of the notice of decision, that's a further reminder that we expect that advertising hoarding around construction sites will be suitable for community standards," Mr Rutledge told the hearing.
Mr Rutledge said the guidelines would only apply to material displayed on construction sites.
He said the directorate hadn't received any recent complaints, speculating that the pressure of added public scrutiny had prompted some developers to "tone down their sexualised content".
Asked why the regulation wouldn't extend to all outdoor advertising, Mr Rutledge said national advertising bodies were better placed to address that.
Mr Gentleman and Minister for Women Yvette Berry have written to, and met with, the national advertising standards board in recent months, amid concerns about how complaints are being handled.
The board has twice rejected complaints about Geocon's allegedly "sexualised and demeaning" marketing material.
In dismissing a complaint relating to Geocon's Tryst development, the board said it found the material depicted women as "confident and comfortable".
Ms Berry wrote to the board's chief executive a month after that ruling was handed down, saying the board's views appeared to be "out of touch with members of the Canberra community".
"Continuing to depict outdated gender stereotypes or to depict woman in these sexually exploitative ways is detrimental to us achieving gender equality in the ACT and Australia," Ms Berry's letter stated.
In a statement to The Canberra Times, an ACT government spokesman said it was continuing to lobby the advertising standards board and industry group Australian Association of National Advertisers.
"We are committed to implementing reforms that send a clear signal to property developers that sexist advertising is not welcome in the ACT," the spokesman said.