Thinkerbell, BIG W Named Most Inclusive Agency, Brand: “We Are Changing the Country”

Australian indie Thinkerbell has been named Australia’s Most Inclusive Agency by production body Inclusively Made, as the organisation sets a new benchmark for disability representation.

The non-profit also named retailer BIG W the year’s Most Inclusive Brand and Bupa’s ‘Health Stories’ the Most Inclusive Campaign at its 2025 partners’ roundtable in Sydney yesterday on International Day of People with Disability (IDPWD).

19 of Thinkerbell’s shooting days in 2025 were certified as being inclusive, with 100% of productions including accessible documentation and locations.

Overall, 67 Australian productions were certified as Inclusively Made in 2025, 64 cast people with disability, and 943 total days of employment were created.

While this represents a nearly three-fold increase from 2024, Inclusively Made founder Henry Smith told brand partners in the room these numbers are the new “floor” for disability representation.

“What we are doing is systemic change,” Henry said. “We are changing the country.”
“We're very proud to share what's being done this year, and to set a benchmark … It excites me to think of what's to come in future years.”

Henry also announced the organisation’s newest brand partners entering 2026: media agency Atomic 212°, streamer Stan, and brands Mastercard and KFC.

Inclusively Made CEO Paul Nunnari told LBB brands have an “inclusion imperative”: businesses can’t afford the commercial consequences of failing to meet inclusion standards.

“They are missing out on disability spend and missing out on disability talent,” Paul explained.

“They are missing out on a chance to be able to become an employer of choice, which most highly successful organisations want to [have] … a workforce that's diverse, brings a wealth of perspectives, and that creates better opportunities and more connection to the broader general public.”

Paul referenced the Valuable 500 whitepaper, which estimates the global disabled community represents USD$8 trillion a year in disposable income, USD$13 trillion when including friends and family.

“Generally speaking, every person with disability globally is represented by four people,” he said.

“If your product is in health services and inaccessible to me, then it's not just one person. It's on average, four people. So there's a definite economic case for why [representation] is imperative, particularly in the context of an ageing population … why wouldn't you be inclusive and accessible?”

Paul also revealed early data from the Inclusively Made Inclusion Imperative Report – to be released in early 2026 and outline the economic spending power of the Australian disability community – has shown people with a disability to be an intensely loyal market.

“The early data is people with disability are very loyal to brands that reflect them authentically. They'll spend money where they see themselves reflected, we know for a fact.

“Where people see themselves reflected in the content they see or in the advertising they see, the more prone they are to support that product or that organisation.”

But Australian filmmaker and inclusive production advocate Genevieve Clay-Smith told LBB most brands are still afraid of “getting inclusion wrong”.

“One of the biggest challenges is simply not knowing where to start, and being worried about getting inclusion wrong,” said the executive director of Bus Stop Films, which teaches people with disabilities how to make films.

“From the very start of my career 15 years ago, including people with disability in production has always been about saying, ‘You don't know what somebody can achieve until you give them the opportunity.’ When we have these low expectations of people or we prejudge what people are capable of before we give them the opportunity, we can rob them of their opportunity to get work and thrive in the creative industries, and that includes advertising.”

Part of the Inclusively Made mission, Genevieve added, is to empower people to be confident in hiring people with disability “from the get-go”, and to help them see that being inclusive “isn't actually difficult or scary”.

“It's actually really rewarding and can produce some great creative results,” she said.

“The barriers are almost imagined in a way, because you know it's all fear-based rather than fact-based.”

The best starting point for inclusion, Paul added, is engaging with people with a disability.

“There's no point saying, ‘we're going to plan and deliver this’ if you can't make any changes. You want input at a point when a person can make informed decisions and choices, and provide that informed feedback.

“Then something can be done with that feedback to change the outcome, to make it more inclusive, more dignified, more equitable. That then applies to and benefits everyone. More dignity, more equity, more inclusion is good for everyone.

“There are a number of different strategies that organisations take on – again, not because it's a disability or inclusion thing, but because it benefits all of their staff and people …that makes the workplace more accessible and inclusive for everyone.”

In 2026, Inclusively Made is ambitious to involve more businesses and brands in inclusive production initiatives.

“There's nothing wrong with taking a first step, because if you don't take [it], you never take it. Then you just become complicit. Sometimes, perfect gets in the way of actual progress. And we always say progress is better than perfect because, through progress, ultimately, you will get to a benchmark. And benchmarks are always meant to be improved.”

The needle continues to move nationally on disability representation, with not-for-profit Initiative Shift 20 unveiling its ‘80 for 20’ program yesterday, to accelerate disability representation in advertising. The program sees brands including Amazon, Nova, TikTok, and Foxtel have committed up to 20% added value media to every advertiser with a paid campaign for including people with disability in their creative.