Ads on pet issues fill up campaign space

The airwaves and social media timelines are filling up as lobby groups race to get politicians to heed their message.

They're hoping advertising will raise enough awareness and pressure politicians into making unbreakable election campaign promises on their group's pet issue.

Universities Australia is making its first election-time advertising pitch for more money, seeking to emphasise how tertiary education benefits everyone.

But chairman Barney Glover insists the ads are intended to merely educate, not sway voters one way or the other.

The Australian Automobile Association wants its eight million members to get in their local candidates' ears about committing to road and other transport funding.

"The AAA wants every candidate to understand why their community can't be part of the economy of the future while it relies on the transport infrastructure of the past," chief executive Michael Bradley says.

And lawyers across the country will be rallying over and decrying on social media the dire state of legal aid.

The Law Council of Australia says there are 45,000 people who had to front court on their own and another 160,000 turned away from community centres because of legal aid cuts.

These campaigns come on top of those run by the political parties themselves, hoping voters pay some attention as the eight-week campaign rumbles on towards July 2.