Media Diversity Australia held its second industry round table at Nine‘s North Sydney offices on September 20, bringing together the CEOs, Managing Directors and other senior representatives from MDA member organisations including from Nine, ABC, SBS, Seven, AAP, The Guardian, ARE Media, Netflix, Junkee Media, Women’s Agenda and Hachette Publishing.
The event, saw Australian industry professionals and executives once again gathered to reflect on the year that was and discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the sector.
Attendees included SBS’s James Taylor, Nine’s outgoing CEO Mike Sneesby and Chief People Officer Vanessa Morley, Seven’s Chief People and Culture Officer Lucinda Gemmell, ABC’s Chief People Officer Deena Amorelli, AAP’s Editor Andrew Drummond, the Guardian’s Deputy Editor Gabrielle Jackson, Women’s Agenda Publisher Angela Priestley, Junkee Media’s Editor in Chief Alice Griffin, ARE Media’s General Counsel & DE&I lead Veronique Maury, Hachette Publishing’s CEO Louise Stark & Netflix’s Clare Walker, Director Business & Legal Affairs.
The event included industry representatives from Federal and State Government as well senior representatives from Google, Meta, Free TV, the Walkley Foundation, the Kennedy Foundation, Public Interest Journalism Institute PIJI, the AFL, Diversity Arts Australia, the National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters’ Council, WGEA Workplace Gender Equality Agency, Women in Media, Women on Boards, the Australian Human Rights Commission, Deloitte, Telum Media and more.
Representatives from across the media sector engaged in conversation over the issues that need to be tackled, and the action needed to meaningfully progress diversity, inclusion, and equity.
The first part of the event featured introductory remarks from Nine’s CEO Mike Sneesby, a keynote address by Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Julian Hill who spoke about the “real concerns that diversity is still not adequately reflected in Australian mainstream media.”
The panel, moderated by Nine’s Sarah Abo featured AFL DEI Executive Tanya Hosch, Nine’s Chief People Officer Vanessa Morley and MDA’s CEO Mariam Veiszadeh.
The second part of the event featured a closed round table discussion for MDA members and provided a platform for a discussion around inclusion practices, talent pipeline, cultural safety, retention, navigating lived experience and impartiality, and opportunities for further industry collaboration.
Mariam Veiszadeh, CEO of Media Diversity Australia said, “MDA has been described as a necessary agitator, an external independent body that can help bring the key media players together to help accelerate change in an industry that has faced its share fair of challenges.
“Our role at MDA is to ensure that when the media turns to us for diverse talent through our TalentHub offering, that we support those candidates not just to land a job but to have a thriving career, free from discrimination, ensuring that they feel culturally safe and that media companies are empowered with the tools to support their growth and upward career trajectory.”
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