The Experience Advocacy Taskforce (EAT) and Advertising Industry Careers have partnered to launch a new survey that aims to delve into the age demographics of the advertising industry.

The survey comes in response to data showing that only 5.1% of employees in the sector are over 50 years old - significantly below the Australian workforce average.

The average age in the media industry is 32 years, compared to 39 years in the Australian workforce. Only 18.5% of the media workforce is over 40 years, compared to 62% in the Australian workforce. The average tenure in the media industry is less than 3 years, and less than 10% of the media industry has 16+ years’ experience. 

"Ageism is widespread, but often concealed, and the only way forward is to start to change the narrative and bring the discussion out of the shadows by spreading awareness. When we consider that only 5% of media industry employees are over age 50, we know we cannot keep discriminating against such a huge and experienced pool of our workplace population," said Greg Graham, EAT’s Founder.

Recruiters cite age discrimination as one of the biggest reasons a CV should not exceed 10 years. EAT is calling for the media and advertising industry to take immediate action against ageism. The taskforce is conducting initial research to assess the scale of the issue and will follow up with in-depth studies to provide greater insight and explore solutions to address ageism issues.

"To improve our industry and take advantage of the vast amount of experience that these workers bring, we need to update our attitudes, structures, and practices and work towards ending ageism discrimination." Graham said "Even more concerning is when we consider the long-term impact of ageism on future generations...We know from global studies that a more diverse age workforce is more productive and proactive."

The survey is open to anyone who has left a media or advertising company, regardless of whether the departure was voluntary or involuntary. It can be accessed via the Advertising Industry Careers website.

"So much ageism happens unconsciously, and it's allowed to keep happening because we are not celebrating experience and knowledge enough. EAT is about working towards making ageism a non-issue for future generations," Graham said. "EAT recognises this age imbalance is not new and change takes time, so we have set ourselves an ambitious – but we believe achievable - goal to dismantle the Taskforce by 2030."