ABC members have voted unanimously to accept the new rules for the auditing and reporting of sales data for print publications following a ballot of members.

The new ABC Print Rules and Guidelines encompass changes to incorporate day-of-week reporting for newspapers, voluntary reporting for all publications and updates to the auditing and reporting of sales categories.

The committee of media buyers, advertisers and publishers, including members from the Media Federation of Australia (MFA), the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA)  has met on a regular basis since November last year to review and update the rules.

ABC chairman Dr Stephen Hollings said the launch of day of week newspaper figures and voluntary reporting represented a major milestone in the ABC’s history.

He said: “Our publisher members have always shown their belief in accountability and these rule changes represent a commitment to increasing the transparency and granularity of their reporting.”

As previously announced, national newspapers, metropolitan daily newspapers and regional daily newspapers can report average day-of-week sales data for Monday through Friday from July 1. This rule will be mandatory from December 30, 2011, providing greater detail to media buyers.

Previously the ABC reported three figures for newspapers; Monday to Friday, Saturday and Sunday average net paid sales figures in each reporting period.

Three types of voluntary reporting have been added that allow the reporting of single issues, the reporting of more frequent ANPS figures and subscription data.

Category definitions have also been tightened and the definition and application of return copies has been standardised within the rules and audit guidelines to ensure auditing consistency.

ABC chief executive Paul Dovas said the rules form a solid formation for upcoming changes to the reporting rules regarding digital media.

“The rules that come into effect today show the evolutionary nature of the ABC audited figures, which will continue with the future integration of new rules surrounding digital editions.”

The ABC Digital Committee reconvened last week and it is hoped new rules will be presented to the ABC General Committee for agreement in the coming months.

Educational tools to help our members understand the rules will be placed on our website in the coming weeks.