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LABOR has taken its foot off the government advertising brake and hit the accelerator, with a dozen new taxpayer-funded advertising campaigns believed to be in the pipeline.

Sources said the campaigns, which were expected to launch this financial year, would cover portfolios including defence, theenvironment and industrial relations.

But the primary area of focus was expected to be health, with campaigns expected to tackle binge drinking, drug use and domestic violence, among other social issues.

The news follows Labor's creation of a powerful new committee to approve government advertising, replacing the former Ministerial Committee on Government Communications (MCGC) that held the reins under the Coalition.

Under the new system, ministers eventually authorise campaigns within their portfolio. But much of the decision-making on advertising campaigns will be made by the new Interdepartmental Committee on Communication (IDCC), which is staffed by bureaucrats rather than parliamentarians -- as was the case with the MCGC.

The aim, according to a spokeswoman for Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner, is to depoliticise government advertising campaigns -- Labor's primary criticism of a series of big-budget campaigns launched by the Howard government.

The IDCC, which is chaired by Simon Lewis, general manager of the Asset Management Group within the Finance Department, reports to the Secretary of Finance on procurement issues and to the Cabinet Secretary on campaign policy matters.

Members include the deputy secretaries of a variety of government departments, including Prime Minister and Cabinet, Defence, Health and Ageing and Human Services.
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