Australian adland calls for bold action on gender equality
The Australian advertising industry wants less talk and more action on gender equality, according to the findings of a recent industry survey.
shEqual, Australia’s movement for advertising equality, will release the results of its groundbreaking national industry survey exploring attitudes to gender equality in advertising at an event on 7 December at 10:00am, Bold & Strong: Presenting the shEqual Survey results.
The shEqual Survey, conducted in October this year, measured attitudes to gender equality among those working in and around Australian advertising. Nearly 600 adland professionals from around Australia responded to the call, and their responses show clear support for stronger action to advance gender equality, both within advertising workplaces and in advertising content.
At this live online event, Empirica Research will present preliminary results from the survey, followed by an industry panel discussion about the future of advertising and the advertising workplace, featuring: Laura Nice, co-CEO at OMD Australia, Jim Gall, CEO at Clemenger BBDO, Jasmin Bedir CEO at Innocean Worldwide Aust. and Founder of Fck The Cupcakes and Katarina Matic, senior creative at Bullfrog and member of the newly formed mentorship collective The Aunties.
The event will be opened by the Victorian Minister for Women, the Hon Gabrielle Williams MP, and MC’d by Bec Brideson, the founder and CEO of Venus Comms, gender intelligence consultant and shEqual reference group member.
shEqual invites everyone with an interest in the responsible use of advertising – including brands, creatives, governments, regulators, educators, activists and consumers – to get active in making the change we want to see. It’s time for advertising to get real… and get equal.
To register for the event, visit https://womenshealthvic.com.au/event-4565939
For more information about the shEqual campaign, go to shequal.com.au
shEqual is an initiative of Women’s Health Victoria and is supported by the Victorian Government and Respect Victoria.
2 Comments
Australias narrative is so behind. Diversity is not only about adding more white straight females into the creative department – you need more aboriginal people, lgbtqia+ people, people with disabilities of all genders. This forced narrative is exactly what is wrong with our industry.
Meaningful change is needed everywhere, yes. But arguing that gender equality isn’t an issue worth actioning because there are problems everywhere else as well is just . If you read the report, the stats make it clear that gender inequality is still a massive issue in adland, and groups like shEqual are needed to drive real change. More orgs to help drive specific and actionable change everywhere else are also needed. Howsabout you use your passion for diversity to comment less and change more?