WFA launched the Global DEI Charter for Change

Jul 4, 2022 | Your Voice

Diversity, Equality and Inclusion was a major theme throughout the day at the recent REST Live conference.

The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) launched the Global DEI Charter for Change.

Developed with input from members of WFA’s D&I Taskforce, the Charter identifies actions that all global organisations need to undertake to ensure a better experience for the one in seven members of our industry who say they could leave their company or the industry due to a lack of diversity and inclusion.

“The ad industry has considerably stepped up its efforts in recent years when it comes to Diversity & Inclusion, but the inconvenient truth is that we still fall well short of where we should be. Many people in marketing, both at brands and at agencies, are still having a poor lived experience in their workplaces,” said Stephan Loerke, CEO of WFA.

 

Australian DEI initiatives

Diversity, Equality and Inclusion was a major theme throughout the day at the recent RESET Live conference.  The industry is leading in on these issues and was strongly challenged by Australian of the Year, Dylan Alcott and the CEO Indigenous X, Luke Pearson, to DO BETTER.

At AANA we are working across a range of platforms to do just that.  We have updated AANA’s DEI Policy, we have joined Diversity Australia and we are actively involved in the Australian chapter of the Unstereotype Alliance.

More brands are joining the Australian chapter and with the appointment of the Focal Point and Unstereotype Alliance lead, Jane Aslanidis, in April we are now getting on with the agreed strategic priority and workstreams. More about the Australian National Chapter here.

It is very exciting to see AANA members, Mars, Unilever Coles and Westpac leading three of the four workstreams that have been agreed upon. These groups are a great way to share information and drive change across the industry.

The Advertising Council is also set to release the findings from its Create Space survey conducted late last year. CEO Tony Hale says they will announce the results and an action plan via a webinar at 10.00 am on July 14. You can register for the webinar here.

AANA is excited to announce that we will be participating in the worldwide census conducted by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) when it commences its second census in early 2023.  Stay tuned for further information about the WFA census and how you can participate in the coming weeks.