Can anonymous hiring fix advertising’s gender gap? Fair Treatment launches experiment to prove gender bias exists in hiring

Despite women accounting for 85% of purchases (Australian Centre for Business Growth, 2025), under 15% of commercial work in Australia last year was directed by women. It’s not a pipeline problem — women make up 22% of directors on production company rosters. They’re just not getting awarded at the same rate.

Today, The Fair Treatment is launching an experiment to prove why: unconscious bias in the selection process.

Borrowing a process from industries such as consultancies and symphony orchestras, from 28 August 2026, advertising agencies and brands are invited to select directors through a “blind” selection process. Removing names, companies and identifying information from creative pitches means ideas are evaluated based purely on the ideas in the treatment, eliminating subconscious bias around gender or race to get a more pure reaction to the work.

Says Karen Ferry, Executive Creative Director and ABC TV’s Gruen panelist: “When running AWARD School, we saw that blind judging of creatives’ work greatly shifted the gender and cultural breakdown of who was deemed talented enough. When we give unexpected talent a chance, it creates the opportunity to tell interesting stories through new perspectives and make work that connects to disenfranchised audiences – a challenge that every marketer and advertiser should be thinking about.”

When a brand needs a director, several directors are shortlisted to pitch their vision. If agencies choose to put a director on the bid, they should be comfortable for any director to win – but that is not always the case.

Says one female director, whose name has been anonymised: “I have been told a few times from different agency producers that they have felt sorry for me knowing that I am just there as a token female who was never going to win the job.”

Under The Fair Treatment, agencies select their director shortlist as usual, then pitches are submitted anonymously. The best idea wins. Names are revealed only after selection and results will be analysed to measure impact.

This initiative is launching with award-winning male directors Steve Rogers, Ariel Martin, Matt Devine, Stefan Hunt, and Dave Wood from internationally recognised production companies including Revolver, Good Oil, Scoundrel, Photoplay, Cousin, Rabbit, Exit, and Sweetshop.

Says Pip Smart, Partner and Executive Producer at Revolver and Jury President for the Film Craft Lions at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity: “Anything that helps us as an industry take a look at ourselves is a great thing. There’s no doubt we have diversity issues, and this idea draws light on some of that in a startling way.”

Analysis of 2,467 director credits from Campaign Brief and BestAds revealed the 15% figure and declining trend. Of the 30 most-published directors in Australia, only 3 are women.

Says Ariel Martin, Director and Co-Founder of Cousin, ranked #1 Australian Director on BestAds over the last decade: “It’s a really important initiative. I got involved in Fair Treatment because it’s not just talking about a problem – it’s a potential solution.”

Organisations from the London Symphony Orchestra to Ernst & Young have proven blind selection increases diversity and improves outcomes. Fair Treatment aims to demonstrate the same in advertising and provide a model for other creative industries.

Results, including hiring data, will be made public in early 2027. The initiative launches with a film featuring established Australian directors speaking about gender bias.

Get Involved

The success of this experiment depends on participation. Agencies, brands, and production companies can sign up, register support, or learn more at www.thefairtreatment.com and @thefairtreatment.

Register for FREE HERE and receive the Campaign Brief Daily Bulletin and/or the global Best Ads Best of the Week Bulletin.              Subscribe to Campaign Brief Magazine.

#More Creative News   #No paywalls   #No annual membership fees

Subscribe to Portfolio & Reel for current listings of Australian and NZ ad agency and production company leadership and key personnel