About Publishers Australia

About Us

Publishers Australia is a non-profit trade association that represents the leading B2B, specialist B2C, custom and digital publishers in Australia.

We currently have over 120 publisher members who produce more than 800 consumer, business and customer publications in total.

We have developed a powerful network of national and international alliances across the creative industries to keep our members up to date on matters that affect them.

We inform our members of industry trends; defend them against unnecessary regulation; and promote the editorial and financial health of our industry.

We have a strong interest in training and development through seminars, workshops, event keynotes, Excellence Awards, and an annual conference as well as access to a range of learning resources.

As publishers are becoming multimedia, cross-platform brands, we aim to guide our members into the future by providing advice on the digital revolution reshaping our industry.

Our key goals are:

  • To promote the benefits of quality targeted media and its unique ability to engage specific sectors of the business and consumer market
  • To represent our members and their products/services to industry and government bodies, business associations and the media buying community
  • To develop and expand our member services, including networking, training, education and group discounts on relevant services for members

Quick Member Product Profile:

  • B2B Publishers 45%
  • B2C Publishers 55%
  • B2C Publishers using newsagents 34%
  • 68% of the membership is involved in online publishing
  • 90% of member’s titles circulate between 4,000 and 100,000 within Australia

Meet the Team

The association’s key personnel are here to serve the interests of the membership:
  • Alan Sarkissian  -  CEO
  • Patricia Chan  -  Membership, Events and Sponsorship

Alan Sarkissian - CEO

Alan Sarkissian joined Publisher Australia in the middle of 2008 from PANPA (Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers Association) where he was instrumental in raising standards and that association’s profile with their key stakeholders. His previous roles include Chairman, Director and NSW President of the Australian Marketing Institute (AMI) and running his own successful consulting business.

He also has extensive experience in B2B and Consumer magazine publishing as well as the digital publishing environment. Alan is available to address your industry, company or group on issues regarding media engagement and targeted title marketing, the changing nature of publishing, and the industry landscape in 2010 and beyond.

He can be contacted on (02) 9955 1510 or alan@publishersaustralia.com.au

Patricia Chan - Membership/Accounts, Events and Sponsorship

Patricia is a highly valued organiser and administrator with an excellent track record in sponsorship package development and implementation, event co-ordination and membership services.

Patricia has extensive experience in association management. Her range of skills include accounting, database management, board meeting and AGM preparation, and legal compliance. 

She can be contacted on (02) 9955 1510 or patricia@publishersaustralia.com.au

Board of Directors

Geoff Hird
Chair

Geoff Hird is chairman of Publishers Australia. He has over 18 years experience in B2B media, covering sales, sales management, operations and business development, in magazines and online media. Hird is currently associate publisher and operations director at Westwick-Farrow Media, a leading independent Australian B2B media company. A member of FIPP’s International Research Committee, he has also been involved in advising the CAB on its developing digital auditing processes and is a strong advocate of multiple media platforms and the unique opportunity specialist media has to engage with and influence targeted audience groups.

Jeremy Vaughan
Vice chair

Jeremy, Managing Director of Haymarket Media is vice chair of Publishers Australia. He brings with him many years of experience working in publishing. Jeremy Vaughan joined Haymarket as a classified sales executive on Classic & Sports Car in 1986. He moved to the motoring trade division two years later and became group production manager. Jeremy became publisher of Classic & Sports Car in 1993 and a year later publishing director of Haymarket Specialist Publications. He also spent some time in Hong Kong as general manager of SCMP Haymarket Publishing before being appointed chief executive officer of Haymarket Worldwide Asia and director of Haymarket Worldwide in 1999. In 2003, Vaughan was appointed Managing Director of Haymarket Media and Events Australia. Jeremy is also a member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) General Committee.


Colm O'Brien
Finance Director & Chair of WA Chapter

Colm O'Brien has over 12 years combined experience in international banking, management consultancy and publishing. He has consulted across numerous industries including financial services, FMCG, utilities and publishing. O’Brien holds a Bachelor of Law degree and is a member of FINSIA and ACID.




Janice Williams
Chair of Newsagency/Distribution Leadership Group

Janice Williams brings 20 years of publishing experience to the board of Publishers Australia. She currently manages half of the Universal Magazines stable, including titles like Wellbeing, Australia’s leading journal of natural health and living; Life etc, the lifestyle magazine of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation; Road Rider, the highest auditing title in the motorbike category and many more. Williams has developed and launched eight of Universal’s consumer publications and one trade publication. Her current focus is developing websites.



Bobbi Mahlab
Chair of the Custom Publishing Leadership Group

Bobbi Mahlab is the owner and managing director of Mahlab Media, a company she founded in 1997 that publishes contract and consumer magazines and digital content in Australia and more recently, in the USA. Mahlab’s career began as a business and commercial property journalist. She is the co-founder of two local newspapers including Sydney’s first newspaper for city residents. In addition to running her own enterprise, her experience includes roles with News Limited, Fairfax and Text Media.



Patrick McElligott
Chair of Qld Chapter

Patrick McElligott is managing director of Inflight Publishing. He started the company in 1999 with one magazine being produced for a Queensland regional airline MacAir Airlines. He is based in Brisbane and is currently on the board of management for Flying Arts, a director of Aussie Kids Charity and an Earth Angel for Angel Flight. Inflight Publishing is positioned as a specialist destination publishing company.



Kylie Ahern
Chief executive Luna Media

Kylie Ahern is chief executive and co-founder of the Sydney publishing company Luna Media. Ahern started her career at IPC Magazines in the UK and went on to several senior publishing roles in Australia, including marketing director at FPC Magazines, group circulation manager at ACP Magazines and publisher at Yaffa Publishing. She has won Consumer Magazine of the Year and Best Consumer Magazine Launch in 2007 (both for G Magazine), as well as Best Small Publisher for Luna Media.

Graham Wakeling
Chair of SA Chapter

Graham created In-Business magazine and its companion magazine, Insight following a decade of working in contract publishing. Wakeling came to SA from the UK in 1988. A persistent entrepreneur, he was involved in direct marketing, retail administration for a major UK conglomerate and the import-export trade before focusing on publishing. He has been a small business owner for 15 years and also chairs a leading SA employment services organisation.

Auditing

Publishers Australia advises its members to adopt the following guiding principles when operating in today’s market:

Define your audience
When magazines or websites sell advertising they are selling access to an audience. Therefore, we recommend that publishers define their audience thus:

  • Numerically via circulation auditing i.e. ABC and CAB auditing
  • Qualitatively via independent research i.e. Roy Morgan, Nielsen, Sweeney etc..
  • And, in the context of the whole of the market as described by industry research i.e. Ibis

Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) and Circulations Audit Board (CAB)
Circulation Auditing should be done via ABC if the publication is sold or CAB if the publication is made available free-of-charge.

As an association we recognize that there are some legitimate cases where ABC or CAB auditing is not always appropriate:

  • The publication is less than 12 months old
  • The publication frequency is biannual or annual

Consider what form of auditing is suitable for you
Publishers in well defined markets know their audiences and will often apply market-specific methods to reach them, for example - sales of bike magazines through bike shops. While sales achieved through these channels are legitimate, the method of delivery influences whether or not they are counted in the ABC auditing process for paid magazines. In these circumstances, the option remains for the publisher to place their publication under the CAB system alongside free magazines.

In the absence of any other system that quantitatively defines all circulation, Publishers Australia encourages members to CAB audit in these circumstances.

Readership research
Industry research provides a context for understanding the magazine’s own position within the market, and should be obtained from independent research companies operating within the industry, such as Roy Morgan, McNair, Nielsen etc...

Educate marketers about measurement
As representatives of Publishers Australia, members often play an advisory role for their clients, They should be knowledgeable about and prepared to educate advertisers on:

  • ABC or CAB circulation auditing
  • Readership research
  • Market size and qualities

Digital auditing
Publishers Australia gave its support to the Audit Bureaux of Australia’s (ABA) Digital Audit Services on May 21, 2010. The ABA Web Audit Service provides a 360 degree audit of digital properties, including verification of:
  • Compliance to ABA measurement rules and guidelines
  • The accuracy of reported audience figures (including validation of traffic fluctuations)
  • Correct placement and number of tags per page by online publishers
  • Correct publisher configuration within Nielsen and ABA systems, including validation of site definitions, brand roll-ups and categorisation
  • Supplementary digital channels, including digital editions, email newsletters, mobile sites and video