It didn’t take long for us to realise we still had a lot to learn. Right at the beginning of our engagement, during a client kick-off meeting, Michael politely called us up on a common industry acronym: ‘WIP’ or ‘work in progress.’ To us, this term was second nature. We had never thought about the violent historical connotations it carries when heard as ‘whip’, or considered how else our standard industry practices impacted others.

And we weren’t alone. In our industry, engagement with IDEA is low, and the stats can prove it. The 2021 Australian Create Space Census outlined just how far we have to go. 20% of those working today say they’re likely to leave the industry based on a lack of inclusivity and discrimination. Micro-aggressions and casual discrimination are widely reported, especially among minority and marginalised groups. And only 53% of people say they are aware of their company's Diversity and Inclusion strategy and policies (if they have any at all). Based on these results, it shouldn’t surprise any of us that only 16% of people in Australian agencies are culturally diverse. The US and UK report even smaller numbers.

We encountered the impact of this inequity first-hand while searching for freelance creatives from diverse backgrounds to work with us on the project. In an industry that has done little to support or lift up talent from minority groups, it is again, unsurprising that finding and connecting with diverse creatives was unnecessarily difficult.