Page 7 - Adnews magazine Sep-Oct 2022

Editor’s Letter
We love being in advertising, but ...
Is the industry being run by a clique of affluent white Australians who went to private school? Those privileged to be involved in the miracle of commercial creativity love being a part of the advertising industry, according to the first census from the Advertising Council Australia (ACA), a survey of 2,652.
Three-quarters felt a strong sense of belonging to their company, and 90% of respondents felt they are val- ued and an essential part of their direct team.
Here’s the but: One in five say they’re likely to leave the industry based on a lack of inclusion/discrimination. Compare that to the one in seven in the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) global census.
ACA CEO Tony Hale: “The data confirms that we are a diverse industry with the vast majority of people having a high sense of belonging and experiencing low levels of discrimination.
“Dig a little deeper and it
becomes evident that it’s not
the case for everyone. As an
industry, we need to be inclusive of all people, not just the majority.”
One in four female middle managers compared to one in ten male middle managers say they’re likely to leave the industry.
And bad behaviour persists, with 8% of women, and 3% of men, experiencing sexual harassment in the last twelve months (compared to 3% for women in the UK advertising industry).
“Casual discrimination” is widely reported, with one in five bullied or undermined. One in four feel
team members are deliberately undermining, and one in three feel undervalued
And when we see wrongdoing, there is a culture of not rocking the boat. The survey had evidence that discourages people from speaking up.
For example, one respondent, a woman, aged 35-44 years old, said: “The less our business feels like a corpo- rate banking sector full of affluent white Australians, the richer, and the more impres- sive we will be as a company.” Those who feel like they don’t fit, stay under cover. More than half (56%) of the LGBTQI+ people choose to hide their sexuality at work. 26% experienced negative behav-
iour in their workplace. Female, 25-34 years old said: “Advertising is incredibly white and male and it creates an uncomfortable environ- ment for people like myself - a queer woman. In rooms and national meetings I will be the
only woman on the call.” There is also an age problem. The industry skews (75%) to the 25-34 and the 35-44 age bracket. This compares with just under half (47%) of the Australian working population. Among female staff, more than 60% are aged under 35. After
35, there is a dramatic drop in females in the industry. A respondent, a woman aged 25-34: “Junior roles are so hideously underpaid, they often aren’t feasi- ble for anyone who isn’t wealthy enough to be sup-
ported by their parents.”
And advertising industry people are more likely to
come from privileged backgrounds, the professional middle class family, having attended private schools (54%) and completed further education (77%).
EDITOR
CHRIS PASH
www.adnews.com.au | September - October 2022 7