Independent Media Agencies of Australia (IMAA), the national, not-for-profit industry association for the independent media agency industry, hosted two events on International Women’s Day.
The IMAA partnered with Tonic Media Network for its Melbourne event and leading national publisher Mamamia in Sydney, with the events attracting more than 120 members.
In Melbourne, attendees heard from keynote speaker, Sam Mostyn, who recently chaired the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce.
The taskforce presented a report to the Federal Government last year, focused on unleashing the full potential of women to contribute to the Australian economy. Alarmingly, the report found that Australian women still face deep, broad-ranging gender inequality, and despite some progress made in recent years, women still shoulder a disproportionate burden of unpaid labour across all spheres of life.
Mostyn shared her insights into this work, along with her deep experience inside some of Australia’s biggest businesses, leading discussions about the need for change within the media industry.
Tonic Media Network commercial director Sev Celik said many agencies - most with strong female leadership - have made significant changes to their workplace culture to include more gender diversity and inclusive policies.
"However, the release of the taskforce data highlights the enduring journey towards achieving comprehensive equality," Celik said.
"The conversation sparked by Sam’s work and experience is timely and inspiring, underscoring the need for progress in our industry. We’re grateful to the IMAA for their support in amplifying voices from Melbourne’s leading agencies, driving inspiration and tangible change.”
The Melbourne event also marked the launch of Tonic Media Network’s The Third Act content series - a $1 million commitment to help improve the financial, physical and emotional wellbeing of women in their mid-life years.
“The Third Act provides a community platform to create meaningful connections between brands and our audience, in point of care environments, that are trusted and credible," Celik said.
"The Third Act is deliberately designed to educate not just women of a certain age, but everyone around them. These issues and actions should not be treated as ‘secret women’s business’; they impact us all."
In Sydney, event attendees heard from Mamamia Out Loud podcast hosts Mia Freedman, Mamamia co-founder, and, chief creative officer, and executive editors, Holly Wainwright and Jessie Stephens.
The team debated key issues currently in conversation among Australian women, alongside IMAA chair Jacquie Alley, who joined the hosts to discuss what the industry can do to accelerate progress for women.
Mamamia chief revenue officer Nat Harvey said Mamamia was thrilled to host members of the IMAA for International Women’s Day.
"For Mamamia, we view every day as International Women’s Day, but also note the importance of finding a time to come together as an industry and celebrate women," Harvey said.
"As a business, we are aligned with the focus that the IMAA has put into guiding and supporting emerging female leaders within the independent industry - they were the perfect partner to share our International Women’s Day morning.”
IMAA chair Jacquie Alley said the IMAA is committed to empowering women in the Australian media industry, inspiring them to push boundaries and achieve, and providing opportunities for them to upskill and further their education.
"As an organisation, our focus is on improving the workplace culture and gender representation across the indie media sector - we’ve been buoyed by the significant number of member organisations who have already made tangible changes to their policies to push the needle on gender diversity across our industry," Alley said.
"The Tonic Health Media and Mamamia events were the perfect forum to further educate our members and drive our gender equality goals.”
IMAA DE&I council chair Angela Smith said the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day – ‘Count her in’ – is really pertinent as companies need to step up and lean in to counting women in to be equals in their organisation at all levels.
"The media industry is not immune and we all need to do more; it’s our responsibility as an industry," Smith said.
"Future generations should not have to experience gender inequality, regardless of education and experience, and that’s what we are aiming for.”
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