It is long-standing ACT regulation — no billboards in the territory.

But the ACT's policy of no advertising billboards may be in need of a shake-up, according to Chief Minister Andrew Barr.

Canberra has been mostly devoid of large advertising, dating back to a 1937 ordinance prohibiting unauthorised signs on Commonwealth property.

There are exemptions at Canberra Airport, and a grey area in places like the National Convention Centre and the multi-storey Canberra Centre.

But Mr Barr suggested a balanced rethink might be in order.

"It's not in any way a suggestion we should turn Canberra into Times Square," he said.

"I'm not suggesting here that there be no restriction on this at all, but the question does arise why there is absolutely none."

Mr Barr said the matter was something the Government could tackle in the Legislative Assembly, but that it should first be examined by the planning committee, led by Greens member Caroline le Couteur.

"The presumption [around the rule] would have been around the Parliamentary Triangle and significant national areas, and I think there is no doubt you would not want to have any outdoor adverting in that context," he said.

"But in other parts of Canberra it may be appropriate."

Territory's natural charm could be under threat: expert

A marketing expert has warned the introduction of billboards to Canberra could damage the city's natural charm.

Andrew Hughes, of the Australian National University's Business and Economics department, said it was a fine line to tread.

"The question is whether we can make money from it now and commercialise it through these big, big billboard signs you see perhaps coming from Sydney and Melbourne airport," he told ABC Radio Canberra.

"Maybe the Government can raise some money from that, so if they're put in the right place maybe, just maybe you can get away with it without killing the pretty scenes which are Canberra."

Mr Barr said the relaxing on laws would mean that the Government would not have to be the "final arbiter" on what advertisements were shown in the territory.

In the end the community pays, opponent says

During the 1990s, Ian McAuley was a member of the Committee for the Removal of Advertising Signs (CRAS), a community group that advocated for stronger enforcement of billboard regulations in Canberra.

Ian McAuley says it's really the community who pay for billboards in public spaces. ( ABC News )

Mr McAuley, also a former lecturer in public sector finance at the University of Canberra, said the main problem with billboards was the fact that they appropriated public space for commercial purposes.

"You get the signal from a billboard, 'this is no longer your space, this is commercial space'," he said.

"It's about the taking over of what we share [by] the market, and that's something that has been of great concern."

Mr McAuley said he feared the ACT Government was contemplating making some "easy money" with billboards, at the expense of the community.

"When you think it through who's paying for it? Eventually those licence fees and those billboard costs come back to the consumer," he said.

"Those firms have to pay for it and they put it up, in terms of higher charges."

Camber Business Chamber chief executive Robyn Hendry said it was important to have some limitations on billboard advertising, but the chamber was open to a review of the current regulations.

However, Greens MLA Ms le Couteur said the proposed review was "a thought bubble" from Mr Barr.

Australia Day billboard 'multiculturalism at work'

The Australia Day campaign image on a billboard outside the Canberra Theatre. ( Twitter: Rachel Stephen-Smith )

Currently, the ACT Government has the ability to promote certain campaigns on assets such as the electronic billboard outside the Canberra Theatre and on ACTION buses.

At present, it is displaying a controversial Australia Day sign on its electronic screens and assets.

The photo of two Muslim women celebrating Australia Day was originally displayed on a billboard in Melbourne but was removed after threats and complaints.

That decision led to a crowdfunding campaign to reinstate the sign.

But Mr Barr said while the territory did not have any billboards, the Government was keen to play a part in broadcasting the message.

"We think is a really good example of multiculturalism at work, a great celebration of the diversity of both our city and our nation," he said.

"We have taken a decision that the values and the substance of this particular advertising campaign reflect contemporary Canberra and we believe reflect the views of the majority of Canberrans."