2020… A year in review from the Australian Hairdressing Council

2020 what a year! The pandemic caused so many emotions, little wonder we all felt like we’d done a few rounds with Mike Tyson. There was fear, anger, bewilderment, sadness, melancholy – but we also showed great resilience, kindness, persistence and innovation as so many of us had to think outside the square to reinvent our businesses and our lives in the ‘new normal’.

THE AHC BECAME THE TRUSTED VOICE FOR THE INDUSTRY FOR REAL FACTS 24/7 DURING COVID-19

Amidst the confusion of shutting down, reopening, the infamous 30-minute ruling, different restrictions for each state, there was so much misinformation going around, especially on social media. The industry turned to the AHC for support and we became even more so the trusted source for up-to-date information and resources. We created a special COVID section of the AHC Resource Library so you had the latest resources at your fingertips. Our communication on the AHC Facebook page was highly engaging and informative and reached more than 1 million people on a regular basis.

THE VOICE OF THE INDUSTRY

With all that’s been going on this year, the AHC’s relationship with government has never been stronger. Since the droughts, bush fires, floods and the pandemic,  the AHC has been in consistent consultation with the Government on small business recovery…. The AHC also continues its lobbying to protect  hairdressing and barbering from the Government’s intention to remove hairdressing from the Skills Migration List and will continue this fight in 2021.

THE AHC IN THE MEDIA

We were involved in more than 40 media interviews, including radio, television, online and print. We’ve been on The Project, The Drum, A Current Affair, Smart Company, The Age, Australian Financial Review, The Guardian, The Herald and many more, representing hairdressing, barbering, beauty and small business. 

MELBOURNE LOCKDOWN

Following a spike of new COVID cases, Melbourne was placed into lockdown for six weeks. To support our Melbourne metro members, the AHC initiated 'AHC Connect – Melbourne Edition', to keep salon owners' spirits up and have a bit of fun outside of work. This included cook offs with Tom Donato vs Marie Uva and Joey Scandizzo vs Malisa Masci, art therapy and portrait drawing with Kurt Anniss and nine Mental Health sessions with Malisa Masci.

HEADHUNTER LAUNCH

To support the recruitment crisis in the hair and beauty industries, the AHC launched HeadHunter in June 2020, a specialised job platform purely for hairdressing, beauty and barbering. Despite the economic climate, HeadHunter has grown exponentially over the last six months, and now has nearly 1500 job applicants registered, 95% of those based in Australia, as well as hundreds of job ads and positions filled.

PAY IT FORWARD

On the subject of HeadHunter, to help Melbourne salons get back on their feet after lockdown, the AHC launched an initiative called ‘Pay It Forward’, whereby salons could purchase a job ad for their own business and HeadHunter would donate a free job to a Melbourne salon looking for staff. Almost 40 ads were dispersed to Melbourne businesses in need to support their recruitment drives.

SUPPORTING SMALL BUSINESS

To encourage Australians to support small businesses in their neighbourhoods, the AHC has driven two specific campaigns – Go Local First, instigated by COSBOA and also Shop Small, with American Express. Messaging across social media and e-newsletters got the word out to encourage everyone to shop local and support small business to get back on their feet.

LOVE YOUR HAIRDRESSER DAY

Small business has had a tumultuous year, so we thought it was time for a feel good campaign and opportunity for clients to show their appreciation to their favourite stylists and salons. The inaugural ‘Love Your Hairdresser Day’ took place on the second Tuesday of November and went viral, with thousands of social media posts, shares, videos and messages. The campaign was just what the industry needed and was so successful that we will be growing the concept in 2021 .

Diary note: Tuesday 9 November 2021 for this year’s event.

RTO MONTHLY MEETINGS

To connect with our friends in Education & Training, the AHC initiated monthly Zoom meetings with RTOs from around the country, featuring a range of guest speakers across a number of topics. These have included, Minister Michaela Cash, ASQA, Apprenticeship Support Australia, Chrissy Zumera, Rumbie, Nicole Healy and Skills IQ. The sessions have been very popular and extremely well received from the Education & Training sector. These will continue in 2021.

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN 2021…

THE AHC IS GETTING A FACELIFT…INCLUDING A NEW WEBSITE!

2020 was actually the 10th anniversary of the Australian Hairdressing Council, but we didn’t feel it was appropriate to ‘celebrate’ in the midst of a pandemic. So we’ll be partying on in 2021 when we can all get to see each other again in person – but in the meantime we’ll be launching a brand new AHC website and fresh marketing and branding. We are so excited – it looks amazing and we can’t wait to share it with you in April 2021.

HAIR FESTIVAL 2021

With the demise of Hair Expo, two of our favourite events of the year will still be taking place - next year on the June long weekend at Hair Festival 2021. We’ll host our annual Industry Day on Friday 11 June to discuss all things education and training with an inspiring line up of speakers, and our premier networking event Schmoozefest will happen on Sunday 13 June from 6.00-8.00pm at Carriageworks.

We can’t wait to see you all there!

INTRODUCING TWO EXCITING NEW INITIATIVES FROM THE AHC

We don’t want to spill the beans too early, but the AHC is launching two exciting new projects next year to support Health, Education, Financial Security and Success.

Pathway Connect and AHC WIIFM is coming your way… Watch this space!

On a final note, we’d like to take this opportunity to thank our members and supporters, the AHC board, facilitators and office and the board of COSBOA for everything each person has done to make this such a mammoth and memorable year.