Havas has officially confirmed that Virginia Hyland, the CEO of Havas Media Network Australia New Zealand (ANZ), "has stepped down" a week after media reports that she launched legal proceedings against the agency’s local media arm.
Hyland had filed a Breach of General Protections claim against Havas Media in the Federal Court, alleging violations of workplace rights. Havas Media accounts for up to 30% of the holdco’s local media business in Australia.
Hyland's claims refer to alleged adverse actions taken by employers, such as dismissal, demotion, or unfair treatment, according to the Fair Work Commission. Details of the claims, as per Mi3, are unclear. An out-of-court settlement has now been reached.
During her five-year tenure, Hyland was key in flipping Havas Media into a high-performing, integrated agency. She oversaw meaty new business wins, including Red Bull, Perfetti, Uniting, Tourism Fiji and Retail Food Group—and played a central role in building out the group’s converged Havas Village model.
Hyland is also credited with the successful launch of Havas Play and CSA (Data, Tech & Analytics), and in 2024, helped spearhead the acquisition of Hotglue, bolstering the group’s Melbourne operations across media and content.
In a Havas statement today, Hyland says: “I want to thank Havas for welcoming Hyland Media and our clients into the fold. It’s been a privilege to work alongside so many creative, driven, and talented people across the local and global network. I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built together. To my teammates, thank you for believing in our shared vision as a challenger agency to 'Dare to be Different'. To our valued clients, I wish you continued success as you navigate the exciting future of data, tech, and AI. It has been my personal pleasure to be part of your journey, some for as long as 25 years.”
In the wake of her exit, Havas has formally expanded the remit of James Wright, now the group CEO ANZ, effective immediately. The structure is similar to Publicis and Dentsu, which have a consolidated mandate under Michael Rebelo and Patricio De Matteis, respectively.
Says Wright: “I want to thank Virginia for an amazing few years of success in the Media Group and wish her every success in the future. Going forward, we are strongly committed to driving our pioneering integration as a Group with many bold ambitions to maximise our talents, technology and data smarts that supercharge our teams and clients’ brands. To support this, we have a number of significant investments and moves planned to help us play and win differently as the challenger HoldCo in the market.”
Wright retains his global roles as CEO of Havas Red and global chair of the Havas PR Network, alongside his leadership of Havas Creative Network ANZ.
Havas ANZ agencies include Havas Host, Havas Media, Havas Red, Havas New Zealand, Havas Blvd, Havas Play, CSA, H/Advisors APA, One Green Bean, Organic Publicity, Frontier, Bastion Brands, part of Havas Health & You and Pulse.
