A flyer passes through four hands, and the law speaks to each

A flyer is "a single sheet of printed material circulated to announce an event, promote a cause or advertise a product." The definition is Queensland's, in the Waste Reduction and Recycling Act 2011, s 105, and the same Act names the hands a flyer passes through, and rules from other states and the Commonwealth sit on some of them.

General information about Australian law, not legal advice. Each guide names the regulator to ask.

the proof

Hand 1

The one who authorised or arranged for the distribution

On election material, one ruled line carries the name and street address of the person who authorised it (NSW). The other carries a licence number, where the trade needs one: NSW, Victoria, Queensland and WA
- The contractor owns the artwork they create unless the contract says otherwise (IP Australia)
- Show the total price at least as prominently as any part price (national law)
Waste Reduction and Recycling Act 2011 (Qld), s 111(2)(a)
Hand 2

The one who authorised or arranged for the printing

On election material, a third ruled line joins the foot: the printer's name and the street address where it was printed (NSW). For federal electoral communications, the Commonwealth asks for the particulars at the end, and lets a journal carry the printer's details elsewhere in it.
- Whoever makes copies of a how-to-vote card published on the internet is treated as its printer (Victoria)
Waste Reduction and Recycling Act 2011 (Qld), s 111(2)(b)
Hand 3

The one who delivered any of the advertising material

The sheet arrives with its foot lines already on it, the electoral ones marked as such in the two hands before; this hand adds none of its own.
- Unsolicited advertising material: placed securely in a mail receptacle or slot, a newspaper receptacle or slot, or under a door (Qld)
- Handing material out on public property usually needs a permit from the state or territory government
Waste Reduction and Recycling Act 2011 (Qld), s 111(2)(c)
Hand 4

The occupier
- No Advertising Material
- No Junk Mail
- Australia Post Mail Only
The foot is unchanged from the printer's hand: on election material, the authorisation line and the printer's line (NSW), and the trade's licence line. Which sheets this hand lets through: material that is not commercial advertising, such as political campaign material, may still go in (Qld).
- A legible, clearly visible No Junk Mail sign: unsolicited advertising material may not go in (Qld)
- A community newspaper becomes unsolicited advertising material only after the occupier tells the publisher they do not want it (Qld)
Waste Reduction and Recycling Act 2011 (Qld), s 107(1)

In Queensland, where the chief executive believes on reasonable grounds that material was delivered against the sign rule or the secure delivery rule, the chief executive can require the person who arranged the distribution, or the person who arranged its printing, to name whoever delivered it, and can require the person who arranged its printing, or the deliverer, to name the person who arranged the distribution. A person given that notice must comply within 7 days unless they have a reasonable excuse, and the maximum penalty for not complying is 40 penalty units. No notice under s 111 can require anyone to name the person who arranged the printing.

The sheet is the same sheet in every hand, and it is not to scale. Only the law written on it changes.

What the printer cannot tell you

Sizes, paper, quantities, turnaround and price are the printer's to set. Official sources do not set them, so this site does not either: ask the printer for a proof and a written quote.

Where a delivered flyer may be left, and the sign on the box

Hand by hand

The hand that arranges the distribution

Queensland's Act calls the person who authorises, or arranges for, a distribution the responsible entity, and puts a duty on them: take reasonable steps so the advertising material does not become waste, with the Distribution Standards Board's code of practice as the Act's own example.

The hand that arranges the printing

A person who arranged the printing can be required to name whoever delivered the material, and on printed material for a New South Wales election, the printer's name and the street address where it was printed must appear on it.

What an election flyer must show

The hand that delivers it

Queensland asks that unsolicited advertising material be placed securely: in the receptacle, slot or other place used for mail, in the newspaper receptacle or slot, or under a door. The person who delivered it can be required to name the person who arranged the distribution.

The letterbox that may refuse it

In Queensland, a legible sign on the letterbox or front fence or gate saying 'No Advertising Material', 'No Junk Mail', 'Australia Post Mail Only' or words to similar effect, clearly visible to the deliverer, makes delivering unsolicited advertising material there unlawful. Material that is not commercial advertising, such as political campaign material, can still be placed in a letterbox.

The sign on the box

The proof, where the work changes hands

If goods are supplied in trade or commerce to a consumer by reference to a sample or demonstration model, the Australian Consumer Law guarantees that they correspond with it in quality, state or condition, and that the consumer has a reasonable opportunity to compare them. The sources this guide draws on do not say whether a printer's proof is such a sample.

Approving the proof