Long
the flagship of Australian magazines and the one by which others are
measured, The Australian Women’s Weekly continues to have the largest
circulation of any magazine in Australia and, at three million, the
largest readership. Over
the past five years, The Australian Women’s Weekly has had to deal with
an unprecedented proliferation of new titles in specialist, homemaker and
food markets, as well as in the more general celebrity and news markets.
However, by staying current and contemporary and refusing to dilute its
multi-dimensional base which covers everything from news to features to
profiles to fiction, gardening, cooking, craft, relationships, health,
diet, beauty, fashion and decorating, it has managed to remain
Australia’s number one selling magazine.
While
The Australian Women’s Weekly has more competition than ever before,
there is still no other magazine like it. The Australian Women’s Weekly
continues to be the voice of Australia’s women and readers turn to it
for information, entertainment and inspiration. While other magazines
struggle to incorporate point of sale visibility, The Australian Women’s
Weekly, with its instant name recognition, remains the market leader in
the women’s magazine field. The
Australian Women’s Weekly is the biggest selling magazine in Australia
with a readership of more than three million. Its position as number one
in the highly competitive women’s magazine market has remained unchanged
for the past fifty years. The
first issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly appeared on June 10, 1933.
Printed on newsprint in a newspaper format, the magazine cost twopence and
touted itself as “the biggest value in the world.” In touch with the times
and women of the era, The Australian Women’s Weekly was an instant success.
The first issue sold out before lunchtime. Through
the War years, the magazine campaigned for women, offered support to the troops
and even had its own war correspondents in Europe. The circulation climbed to
half a million during the War years and in the 1960s The Weekly made history as
the first-ever Australian magazine to have a circulation of more than one
million. Throughout
the 1950s and ’60s, the Royal family were staples of The Australian Women’s
Weekly together with Mandrake the Magician, Ross Campbell’s gently humorous
column about life and family and Dorothy Drain’s “It Seems to Me”. As
rock and roll music hit the airwaves in the mid ’60s, The Australian Women’s
Weekly kept pace by launching Teenagers Weekly, which reported on the Beatles
visit to Australia in 1964 and helped launch such groups as The Easybeats, the
Bee Gees, Olivia Newton-John and Johnny Farnham. In
1979 The Australian Women’s Weekly changed its format and size and went from
uncoated stock to perfect binding and coated stock. It became the first glossy
weekly in the world. This was an expensive, risky innovation, aimed partly at
keeping advertising away from television, and it worked. Advertisers stayed and
circulation was boosted with a pullout television magazine. However,
by 1983, with the economy in recession and costs rising, The Australian
Women’s Weekly became a monthly. The first monthly issue was January 1983 and
it was an instant success. More than a decade and a half later, The Australian
Women’s Weekly continues as a monthly with the success that heralded its first
issue in June 1933. Entertaining,
informative, jam-packed with news, interviews, readers’ stories,
celebrity profiles, fashion, fiction, cooking, gardening, decorating and
the latest in health and medical trends, The Australian Women’s Weekly
is seen not just as a magazine but as a reliable trusted friend - a part
of the family. Since its inception the magazine has been the voice of
Australian women, taking a stand on issues, reflecting changes in
attitudes and the position of women and often leading change. Today,
with between 260 and 300-plus pages and contemporary vibrant covers, The
Australian Women’s Weekly continues to be a leader, whether it is
tackling the subject of female circumcision, giving the latest information
on arthritis treatments or simply having fun with Barbie’s 40th
birthday. While many magazines on the market are aimed at specific
markets, The Australian Women’s Weekly remains an across-the-board
magazine that appeals to all women from eighteen to eighty. For
the best in cookery, The Australian Women’s Weekly offers a free monthly
48-page magazine with the best recipes and the latest ideas. The best in
gardening appears in every issue, along with special gardening pages
designed specifically for the climate and conditions in each State.
Whether it’s fashion, relationships, health, cookery, decorative
painting, knits, news or features, The Australian Women’s Weekly leads
the field. Along with a month’s reading in every issue, the magazine
informs, entertains, excites, stimulates and, above all, inspires. In
the leadup to the Millennium, The Australian Women’s Weekly commissioned a
wide-ranging survey of Australian women. Speaking to 500 women from all age
groups and walks of life across Australia, the magazine explored attitudes and
beliefs of today’s women and discovered that The Australian Women’s Weekly
not only reflects and echoes the dreams and aspirations of Australia’s women,
but is often a forerunner on issues and value systems. The
Voice of Australian Women proved a benchmark in research and is the most
comprehensive study of Australian women undertaken in the past two decades.
Promoting
and supporting women has long been a role of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
The magazine is one of the major sponsors of the Australian War Memorial and its
special exhibit focusing on women and war.
Sponsorship also includes the hugely successful Australian Women’s
Weekly craft fairs and expos such as the Our House Expo of 1998. In addition,
the magazine publishes successful books such as the 1001 Best Ever Handy Hints
and in 1998 and 1999 joined forces with the Breast Cancer Institute of
Australia to produce the Australian Women’s Health Diary. As
well as health and women’s issues, The Australian Women’s Weekly is a strong
advocate for the environment and is a proud sponsor of the black rhino breeding
program at Dubbo’s Western Plains Zoo. Editorially,
new developments include a return to the Weekly’s rural roots with the
appointment of a country editor. Reporting on the women of the bush, the
magazine is exploring the true Australia, a land not just of cities but of
country towns and outback stations. “For
women who want it all ... in one magazine” is the slogan that sells The
Australian Women’s Weekly on both television and radio. It’s a jingle with a
very real point and message. The magazine, with its multi-dimensional formula,
really does offer something for everyone. TV and radio commercials concentrate
on the magazine’s content - its big stories and its mix of diet, health,
relationships, cooking, gardening and fashion. The
Australian Women’s Weekly has built a reputation for quality and reliability
since 1933 and, in return, has a large and loyal readership. Refusing to
compromise on its reputation, The Australian Women’s Weekly guards its legacy
zealously. As a magazine that reflects the attitudes and dreams of Australian
women, it has come to mean integrity, inspiration and truth to its readers. It
is a reputation that The Australian Women’s Weekly has fought hard for, and
one that the magazine is immensely proud of.
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The
first editor of The Australian Women’s Weekly was a man. George Warnecke,
founding editor, was at the helm of the magazine from its birth on June
10, 1933 until 1938. |
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The
Australian Women’s Weekly is the only Australian magazine to have its
own television docudrama. The Weekly’s War, which starred Noni
Hazlehurst, traced the 1939-45 war years through the eyes of The
Australian Women’s Weekly. The series was shown on the Nine Network. |
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During
World War lI, The Australian Women’s Weekly ran a club for servicewomen
staffed by the magazine’s executives and writers. |
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The readers of an average issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly would fill all the major cricket grounds in Australia more than 12 times | ||
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One in three readers of The Australian Women’s Weekly is male. However, while men love to read the magazine, the main buyers are women. | ||
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The Australian Women’s Weekly began as a newspaper for women. Printed on newsprint, it sold for two pennies. | ||
