--- bcp_version: "2.0.0" file_type: boundaries last_updated: "2026-10-26" parent: https://registry.encodedbrands.ai/the-australian-835000db/.well-known/brand.md --- # The Australian — Boundaries This file lists the limits on what is done with, or in the name of, The Australian. Each entry names its basis: - **[C]** News Corp Australia *Code of Conduct Policy – Editorial* (last updated 11 Sep 2025). Embedded at https://www.theaustralian.com.au/editorial-code-of-conduct; checked 2026-10-26. - **[SP]** https://www.theaustralian.com.au/standards-of-practice, checked 2026-10-26. This page states the paper is bound by the Australian Press Council's Standards of Practice. - **[G]** The supplied Marketing Brand Guidelines (2026, updated July). - **[PKG]** Package-integrity boundaries set by this package. This BCP was prepared from public sources and a supplied guidelines document. Boundaries in the **brand_safety** block below are the *inferred* adjacency preferences of a premium national news brand. The Australian has not declared them. ## Hard no ```yaml hard_no: - rule: Do not invent quotes, bylines, headlines, article text or statistics and attribute them to The Australian or its journalists. tier: core basis: "[C] §1.1, §1.7, §1.8 (accuracy; quotations not altered; plagiarism is theft); [PKG]" - rule: Do not present opinion (editorials, columns, letters) as news reporting, or a columnist's view as the paper's editorial position. tier: core basis: "[C] §1.3 (factual material in news reports distinguishable from commentary and opinion); site sections Editorials and Commentary. Note: §1.3 also permits comment and opinion as part of coverage, so a news report may itself contain analysis." - rule: Do not imply The Australian, its editors or journalists endorse a product, party, person, brand or this package. tier: core basis: "[PKG]: no endorsement relationship is known. [C] §25.1 (do not bring the masthead into disrepute) indicates the reputational stake." - rule: Do not imply any partnership, licence, sponsorship or commercial relationship between The Australian / News Corp Australia and Encoded Brands or any other BCP producer or consumer. tier: core basis: "[PKG]: none exists to the knowledge of this package's author" - rule: Do not use the masthead, the map brand mark or The Australian's typography to make content look officially authored by The Australian. tier: core basis: "[PKG]; visual.md logo_usage generation_policy official_assets_only" - rule: Do not redraw, recolour, approximate or AI-generate the masthead or the map brand mark. tier: core basis: "[G] §02–§03 (declared variants only); [PKG]" - rule: Do not present altered or AI-generated imagery as The Australian's news photography. Its code prohibits colour alteration and image manipulation of news images (§23.2). It allows special-effect or artistic alteration only with editor approval and disclosure (§23.5, §23.7). tier: core basis: "[C] §23.2, §23.5, §23.7" - rule: Do not publish AI-generated content as The Australian's content. Its own policy requires editor review and approval before any AI-derived content is published. tier: core basis: "[C] §24.5" - rule: Do not state circulation, readership, subscriber, price or award figures without the source and period, and without first checking claims.md for their current status. tier: core basis: "[PKG]; claims.md" ``` ## Soft no ```yaml soft_no: - rule: "Avoid over-familiar, chatty marketing language (e.g. 'cuppa', 'snuggle up', 'heaps more')." tier: default basis: "[G] §06 Sophisticated" - rule: Avoid sensationalist, arrogant, long-winded, boring or timid copy. tier: default basis: "[G] §01 'We are not'" - rule: Avoid cheap gags and puns. Wit is welcome when it earns a wry smile. tier: default basis: "[G] §06 Engaging" - rule: Avoid addressing readers as "members". Address the reader directly. tier: default basis: "[G] §06 Inviting" - rule: Avoid adopting The Australian's editorial-page argumentative register when writing neutral summaries about the paper. tier: contextual context: third-party descriptions and summaries basis: "[C] §1.3; voice.md" - rule: Avoid describing the paper's politics with loaded labels (e.g. "Murdoch rag", "propaganda", or the opposite, "the only unbiased paper"). Use the neutral, sourced framing in representation.md. tier: default basis: "representation.md" - rule: "Avoid calling the brand 'Australia's only national newspaper' unqualified. The Australian Financial Review is also nationally distributed. Use the qualified wording in claims.md." tier: default basis: "claims.md" ``` ## Brand safety and adjacency (inferred) ```yaml brand_safety: evidence_status: inferred brand_approval: unreviewed framework_alignment: "GARM Brand Safety Floor + Suitability Framework (named by BCP §9.1; GARM itself was discontinued in 2024, but its tiers remain in industry use); IAB Content Taxonomy 3.0" adjacency_unsuitable: - "GARM Floor categories (e.g. illegal drugs, terrorism promotion, hate speech, adult sexual content, malware/piracy)" - Misinformation or fabricated-news sites presenting as journalism - Content impersonating News Corp Australia mastheads or journalists adjacency_acceptable: - "IAB News and Politics (including hard news about crime, conflict and disasters, which The Australian itself reports)" - IAB Business and Finance; Personal Finance - IAB Books and Literature; Fine Art; Travel; Food and Drink; Real Estate (luxury property) - IAB Sports contextual: - topic: Political advertising and campaign material guidance: "Acceptable as adjacency. Never position The Australian's brand as endorsing a party or candidate." garm_tier: medium - topic: Gambling and alcohol guidance: "The Australian Wine is a branded wine-retail offering linked from the site (observed 2026-10-26), so alcohol adjacency is not inherently off-brand. Follow applicable advertising codes. Gambling: no brand guidance found." garm_tier: medium note: "The Australian reports on sensitive subjects as a matter of course. These preferences concern marketing placements and AI-generated brand content, not what the newsroom covers." ``` ## Editorial-practice boundaries (for describing or simulating newsroom conduct) These are drawn from [C]. They are listed so agents do not misdescribe the paper's stated standards: - Payment for interviews or information "should not be made". Any exception needs the approval of the Editor, the most senior News Corp executive overseeing the Editor (or their authorised nominee), and the editorial team or legal advisers ([C] §6.1). - Covert operations require prior approval and a public-interest justification ([C] §4). - Confidential sources are protected ([C] §5.1). - Corrections: significant inaccuracies are corrected promptly, subject to legal advice ([C] §2.1). Readers can report errors to the editor ([SP]). - Complaints: readers may approach The Australian or the Australian Press Council ([SP]). ## Gaps - No brand-declared advertising adjacency policy was found. The brand_safety block is inferred. - The guidelines contain no sub-brand-specific boundaries (Wish, Mansion, Travel + Luxury, The Weekend Australian Magazine).