The Australian federal government recently invited public responses to a consultation paper, exploring the potential introduction of laws to limit or completely halt the marketing of infant formula across the country. This open consultation has been set to terminate by April 10.
Since February 2025, manufacturers of Australian infant formula have been adhering to an agreement, albeit voluntary, to avoid advertising formula milk products for babies who have not yet reached their first birthdays. The unstated goal of this agreement was to encourage and safeguard the practice of breastfeeding.
However, with recent statistics indicating a lower-than-expected rate of breastfeeding in the country, the government has decided against renewing the voluntary arrangement. Instead, it is now considering implementing stricter measures.
While these new measures do not directly advocate breastfeeding, they are designed to curb marketing strategies that present formula milk as a similar or better alternative.
Our evaluation of online ads for infant formula aimed at Australian parents shows that companies exploit parental fears. This also illustrates the issues arising from a voluntary arrangement.
Breastfeeding offers substantial health benefits to both the mother and baby. These include safeguarding newborns from gastrointestinal and respiratory infections, lowering the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes in later life, and reducing the likelihood that mothers will develop ovarian and breast cancer.
For these reasons, Australian guidelines advise exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months after birth. The World Health Organization recommends continued breastfeeding for the first two years.
In Australia, while breastfeeding rates are high at birth, they swiftly decline. Only 37% of babies were reported to be exclusively breastfed by six months in 2022.
There are various factors contributing to a mother’s decision not to breastfeed, but advertising of formula products is a key concern. Such advertising has been shown to create confusion among parents about the nutritional benefits of formula versus breast milk, decrease breastfeeding initiation and duration, and present formula as a superior choice in the face of breastfeeding difficulties.
Formula milk is crucial and often the only option for those who cannot breastfeed. However, it is also costly and can place financial stress on families, especially during the first year of a child’s life.
Online advertising differs significantly from traditional ads. Online, ads are targeted based on people’s search and browsing histories or life events, reaching new or expecting parents at times when they may be most uncertain or susceptible to suggestion.
The ADM+S Australian Ad Observatory, which we and our colleagues manage, collects data on ads encountered by Australians online in order to understand how digital advertising systems work.
In 2022, we collected ads from 1200 Australian adults who voluntarily installed a plug-in on their browsers to capture ads while they browsed Facebook. Since 2025, we have been collecting ads from about 300 Australians who use an app to share ads that appear while they scroll through Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube on their phones.
In this analysis, we studied ads collected in both years and identified 158 ads promoting formula products from local and international brands.
We found brands used various tactics to attract parents. Some highlighted positive customer reviews or offered complimentary downloadable cookbooks and baby-proofing guides for homes.
Other ads were in collaboration with prominent retailers, directing people to online shopping interfaces with “buy now” buttons.
Most formula brands made some claims about the nutritional or behavioural benefits of their products. These claims exploit the anxiety parents often feel about their children meeting nutritional, sleep and developmental milestones.
Some manufacturers claimed their product was fortified with vitamins and prebiotics that would “improve gut health” or help a toddler sleep longer at night.
Others claimed their formula would give mothers “a moment of calm” or strengthen their toddler’s immune system. This is despite scientific evidence showing that breast milk can provide necessary antibodies to a sick child in real time.
Many ads used images of very young toddlers who could easily be mistaken for infants aged 12 months or under. In one case, we found an ad explicitly promoting formula designed for babies under 12 months.
This, along with the use of images of very young children to market ‘toddler milk’ (formula marketed for children aged one to three years), underscores some of the problems with a voluntary advertising agreement.
Since toddler milk marketing was exempt, brands could target parents of newborns. This would generate brand awareness and consumer trust, potentially leading a parent to choose to start their child on formula instead – or earlier than they otherwise would.
Enforcement has also been a challenge. The penalties for violating the agreement – listing the breach on the Department of Health website – have not been viewed as severe enough by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Moreover, the digital advertising environment offers little visibility into what marketing is actually in circulation or who is being exposed to it.
Outside of specialised research tools like our Ad Observatory and the Australian Internet Observatory, there is no systematic method for observing infant formula ads appearing on personalised social media feeds.
The government is mulling over several options:
Maintaining the status quo – no regulation.
Introducing legislation mirroring the former voluntary agreement, preventing promotion of infant formula (for babies aged 12 months or under).
Introducing legislation that also restricts toddler milk marketing (for children aged one to three years).
We have provided all our data to the government to assist in the decision-making process. However, while the ads we discovered provide a glimpse behind the scenes, they likely underestimate the extent of formula marketing happening online.
Infant formula can be a critical, sometimes life-saving, intervention for families in need. However, health interventions do not require persuasive advertising to fulfil their purpose.
The essential policy question is whether a product designed to support infants should be promoted through the same marketing systems selling snack foods, cosmetics and financial products.
Why is the Australian government considering legislation to restrict infant formula marketing?
The Australian government is considering this move due to concerns over lower-than-expected rates of breastfeeding in the country. There is a belief that marketing strategies by formula manufacturers might be presenting formula as a preferable choice to breastfeeding, potentially influencing parents’ decisions.
What are the key issues with formula advertising?
Formula advertising may cause confusion among parents about the nutritional benefits of formula versus breast milk. Ads may also suggest that formula is a superior alternative when facing breastfeeding challenges. Furthermore, these ads may exploit parents’ anxieties about their children’s nutritional and developmental needs.
What are the potential options the government is considering regarding the regulation of infant formula marketing?
The government is considering several options: maintaining the current situation with no regulation; introducing legislation similar to the former voluntary agreement that prevents the promotion of infant formula for babies aged 12 months or under; or introducing legislation that also restricts the marketing of toddler milk for children aged one to three years.
