Page 32 - AdNews magazine Jul-Aug 2021

Investigation
Below: Artwork by Alysha Menzel for ACA’s Reconciliation Action Plan
“Exposure to differences in people and thinking enhances creativity, innovation, growth and profitability. Every one of those aspects has been proven time and time again.”
Even with all the evidence pointing to positive business impacts for equality and diversity, Gloster says she still doesn’t see it being made a priority in many decision making rooms.
“Sadly, for many, the business transformation priorities of 2021, have relegated equality and diversity of efforts to peace-time pur- suits,” she says. “Some even flag equality fatigue.”
The next steps
Change starts with pathways into the industry. The federal govern- ment announced changes to funding for certain university degrees which will see students studying degrees such as communications, creative arts, social studies and behavioural science having to pay more for their courses. This has raised concerns from some in the advertising industry about the barriers to entry.
While tertiary education isn’t necessary, it’s often listed on job specs. If arts degrees are too expensive for those from disadvantaged backgrounds, there is potential for that to limit the pool of talent.
Host/Havas CEO and ACA deputy chair Laura Aldington says the industry needs to do better at educating school leavers on the opportunities available.
“When I look at the people I know in the industry, very few of them have a professional qualification that’s particularly relevant to the deal of advertising,” she says.
“I mean, I’ve got an English literature degree so I didn’t need that to get into the industry. I think it’s actually about going into schools, even before they are choosing their degree subjects to help them understand their pathway in.”
Aldington says she would love to see the industry broaden its search for new talent beyond just new graduates as this will diver- sify the skill sets agencies have at their disposal and therefore enhance creativity.
AWARD School’s Indigenous scholarship and the recently opened Western Sydney Ad School are among some of the newer avenues opening up for people to enter the industry.
Diversity has often become a “box ticker” for HR. But with this mindset, there will be no true progression. For Gloster, it starts with conversations but she says the steps that proceed won’t be easy. “The more we talk about diversity, the more we progress,” she says.
“The next steps are hard. We need to move beyond ambition, frameworks, the sharing of best practice and pledges to accelerated action. ‘When you are accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression’ is the adage that is widely acknowledged. Conversations about diversity too often feel like walking on eggshells.”
When Gordhan arrived in Australia eight years ago, he was excited about the conversations happening around diversity. However, since then, he says he has seen little change. To see change, Gordhan believes there needs to be some level of tokenism initially in the hiring process.
“At the moment I think we’re so overwhelmed by the state of the problem that we feel every small action has no contribu- tion,” he says.
“If we don’t set ourselves bigger ambitions, bigger goals and put our targets down, we’re just in a cycle of never getting any further. The tokenism argument only applies to the person you hired, right? If you get true diversity in businesses [so] you’re representative of the multicultural place we live in, at a certain point, it’s such a melting pot in the business that tokenism falls out the window. As an argument, it’s just the initial step that looks that way.”
Australia’s great storytellers
Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders comprise 3% of the population, yet the representation within the advertising industry doesn’t match up.
Peter Kirk, a Jerrinja man and founder of Indigenous creative consultancy Campfire X, wanted to change this so he approached ACA’s CEO Tony Hale.
Not only did he point out the lack of representation but also that the culture of Indigenous people
is based around storytelling — one that is a perfect fit for adland.
Hale says after his first meeting with Kirk, he offered up six scholarships to AWARD School on the proviso that once they have applied they are blind judged on their own merit and graduate
on their own merit.
Since then, the school has had
a number of students through its
programs, including Alysha Menzel who was the 2019 AWARD School SA top student and Alice Buda
who was in the top 10 students in Victoria for 2020.
Menzel also went on to become the artwork designer for ACA’s inaugural Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) which was published
in April.
The RAP was compiled by
a committee led by ACA deputy chair Laura Aldington and in consultation with Kirk.
The results see the organisation focus on four key areas: educating its membership base; encouraging members to develop their own RAPs; help provide pathways for the Indigenous community to get jobs in the advertising industry; and identify an industry-wide initiative to help support key Reconciliation Australia activities.
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