Leadership Matters Report

Bullying, discrimination, harassment, and destructive work conditions have all emerged as central themes of recent reports, leading to calls for cultural change within the Australian Screen Industry. In addition to the well-documented impacts on mental health and wellbeing, these types of cultural problems are proven to affect creativity and productivity. In response, this research aims to better understand how the culture and norms of the industry are contributing to these problems, as well as the influence screen leaders have on workplace culture and these outcomes.

This was a mixed-method research project consisting of twenty in-depth interviews with both experienced and emerging leaders from across the industry, supported by a nation-wide anonymous survey consisting of 156 self-reporting leaders (N=99) and non-leaders (N=57).

This report echoes the findings of previous industry reports and, crucially, identifies the significant creative opportunity costs inherent when leadership is lacking. Although workplace culture is everyone’s responsibility, screen leaders do have a disproportionate influence and this report found that leaders can mitigate the risk of harm by consciously and pre-emptively creating psychologically safe workplaces. The report offers evidence-based and practical recommendations for screen leaders, screen businesses and screen industry bodies to improve the availability and uptake of screen-specific training, while bolstering leadership supports to improve the outcomes of the sector.

Human Ethics approval from the University of Melbourne (HREC 2023-26371-38150-4)

For further information contact report authors:

· Jonathon Dutton jd@vennpeople.com

· Jo Briscoe jbriscoe@unimelb.edu.au