What you need to know:

• This year’s IMAA Salary Survey that spoke to 849 indie media agency staff has found the number of creative roles has spiked and there are more women in leadership and agencies more generally.
• Women in leadership rose from 38 per cent to 44 per cent, while women now comprise 64 per cent of all agency staff.

A rise in the number of creative roles and a six-point boost towards gender parity in leadership were two key learnings from the Independent Media Agencies of Australia’s (IMAA) annual Salary Survey.

The 2022 survey asked 849 anonymous indie media staff from across the Australian market about their salaries and responsibilities.

Forty-four per cent of leadership roles in agencies are held by women, up from 38 per cent in 2021. More broadly, 64 per cent of indie agency staff are women, up from 60 per cent in 2021.

Creative roles now make up 13 per cent of IMAA agencies, with more producers, animators, designers and copywriters – the third biggest group after digital performance and client services roles, which each came in at 23 per cent of agencies.

Jacquie Alley, the IMAA’s Diversity and Inclusion Council Chair, said a quarter of indie agency talent had more than 10 years’ experience and the average was 9.3 years.

“Having said that, our 18 to 24 year old talent pool has increased 40 per cent year on year, so our agencies have the diverse mix of experience and digital natives in their workplaces,” she said.