The diverse and connected Australian

Annaliese Mailbox
Aug 31, 2018 · 6 min read

Australia is a very diverse place. At the end of 2017 Australia’s population stood at 24.8 million and roughly 75 % of Australian have an ancestry other than Australian. 45 % of the population have at least one parent who was born overseas and 26 % were born outside of Australia themselves. 21% of the population speak a language other than English at home. This diversity is apparent in religious beliefs as well with 50 % of the population identifying themselves as Christian, 30 % as having no religion and a total of 7 % added together for Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism and Judaism.

Currently, Australia is replacing it’s national telecommunications infrastructure with newer and faster networks that gives faster internet and wireless connections through the NBN project (National Broadband Network). According to We are Social statistics, 69 % of the Australian population have access to the internet and the smartphone penetration is expected to surpass 90 % by end of 2018. The rest of the world will reach this by 2023. That means that at least 17 million Australian are now using their mobile devices and integrate technology even more into their everyday lives.

The state of the creative industry

Australia and New Zealand are considered to be isolated and far away countries so they have traditionally relied on autonomous industries such as agriculture and mining. With the digital revolution, both countries have readily taking the opportunity to be a part of a global market. For example, the creative industry in New Zealand resulted to producing $10billion which was 4.2 % of the countries’ GDP in 2016. This has surpassed the agricultural, food and beverage and also the manufacturing industry. An impressive feat when the UK’s creative industry in 2013 produced 4.1% of the countries’ GDP.

Jobs — where are we at?

The digital creative industry is booming! However we need to acknowledge that businesses have failed in investing in their employees, because that’s how they stay relevant in an ever-evolving digital society.

With Australian businesses offering attractive salaries, flexible working hours and diverse work environments 30% of employees in the digital creative industry are now from overseas and that trend will likely continue.

Expectations from the Australian and New Zealand creative industry is clear though. Regardless of it being in a corporate setting or a start up you need to understand people. Empathy in teamwork is essential and so is collaboration as well as being adaptable to change.

It is also expected that talents have the ability to interpret data, briefs and problems quickly and efficiently.

Technology

The digitalisation of industries is rapidly taking place from online retail, networking, IT services and infrastructure (cloud, satellite and optic fibre broadband), agriculture, medicine, finance, science, creative and wine industries.

Trends emerging for the future are innovation and growth within the Internet of Things (IoT) industry. An example of this is cities around Australia showing interest technology for smart cities.

(https://medium.com/@DSolutionsAus/3-key-smart-city-trends-for-australia-in-2018-237bbdb5f464)

Tech with a purpose

In the tech industry creatives and particularly lead creatives are expected to excel in critical thinking. Asking the right questions at the right time. Applying hypotheses to find solutions that create value for businesses, users and society as a whole. Tech for the sake of tech is no longer interesting. But if it makes a positive change in the world it gets welcomed with open arms.

Good valuable content will soar even higher. Therefore creatives need to visualize data and make it accessible to a client or make the public connect with it emotionally.

Business

The start-up and small business industry are now emerging as driven entrepreneurs, along with the established corporations in creating products and services to solve the needs of the modern and digitally driven society. Here is where the economic boom is currently taking place instead of in mining as it used to be in the region.

Business as usual

Being at the intersection of “how” and “why” is the perfect place to be for a

more business minded job. Having an understanding of both how

you create for each individual media channel and why you do so is the type of experience, that makes you invaluable in a business setting.

But even if you only have experience in the “why” process, there’s no need to worry. In a business/corporate setting understanding a problem and being able to delegate tasks accordingly is more important than being able to solve them yourself.

UX and Service design

The Ux and service design industry in Australia and New Zealand is mature.

It is integrated within almost all sectors and the region produces world class designs. Three big trends seems to be quite specific for the region:

Design for government

Government buys so much UX and service design that a whole eco-system of different design firms work within this area. These companies work with everything from service design and gaming to conferences just tackling UX for government services. This trend is most obvious in Australia but also seems to be emerging in New Zealand.

Agriculture

Research and service design firms cater for many companies within the New Zealand and Australian agricultural sector. Prominent design firms are very much involved in developing innovative services in this field and they face specific problems to the region as vast lands where technology is used to bridge distance.

Design that enhances diversity

In many cases, it seems that the design teams are already quite diverse but as talents are coming from more diverse backgrounds and experiences this is an important issue for the industry. Initiatives that are being encouraged is that recruitment should start using tools and processes to reduce bias in hiring. Other examples of this trend is prominent design firms running camps for young girls to get them involved in tech and design in both Australia and New Zealand.

The UX boom

People looking for UX-jobs are in luck! The UX field is thriving in this region with a wide range of employers. Jobs can be found at large consultancies, in-house with clients and with start ups. A majority of the listed UX-designer roles are found in established companies and corporations.

As a rule of thumb you should remember that the “Lead UX-positions” in general require 5 or more years of relevant experience and leadership experience. It’s pretty common that the title UX now overlaps what used to be UI-positions.

Experience design

Experience design is quite new in Australia and it’s only now getting recognition within institutes and industries that provide Experience/UX design. The firms are making the most of technology by providing services that are interactive and also customer centric. The creative economy has grown 40 % faster than the Australian economy as a whole.

Experience design — only for the experienced

Great opportunities here for non-native aussies! Australia’s’ own workforce lacks the necessary UX design skills to really be internationally competitive. Therefore, employers are attracting talents from overseas by offering high salaries (fifth highest in the world for designers in tech).

Advertising

A few decades ago, advertising used to be focused on the product and traditional advertising spaces (such as tv and billboards). In the 90’s, the typical Australian family was perceived to be a white, suburban, Christian family who had a two cars and more than two children. As we went through in the introduction the Australian demographics are now super diverse and many prominent industry leaders are encouraging advertising companies to reflect this. Also ads are no longer focused on the product but instead on the brand.

Australia’s NBN project open up endless opportunities within augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and even mobile advertising that pushes boundaries for user interactivity and experience. This will likely be apparent in the advertising industry more and more during the years ahead.

The branding industry and the visual design in Australia and New Zealand

provides high class, quality design that competes amongst the top players on a global scale. Major branding and advertising companies have at least one office in each of the countries. In New Zealand alone, product and interactive design make up 46 % of the creative market.

Advertising is feeling the pressure

The pace of advertising industry has changed remarkably that last 5–7 years with clients expecting deliveries at an accelerating pace and at lower costs. Being adaptable is key! The most essential and valuable skills are understanding and questioning a brief and being in tune with what your clients customers needs are.

CONCLUSION

It seems that the job market in the creative industry is booming in Australia and New Zealand. The digital skills that creatives have is attractive for potential employers giving a vast number of opportunities in a flexible, well paid, diverse and challenging work environment.