Chief marketing officers of big Australian brands are being asked to think about how their advertising agency partners handle harassment, bullying and assault in an effort to stop agencies from silencing staff and to change an industry that is struggling to shed its Mad Men image.

TrinityP3, which describes itself as an independent strategic marketing management consulting company that works with companies such as Optus, financial services group Aussie, and dairy company Bega, asks advertising agencies trying to win an advertising account to sign a statutory declaration to define their status on complaints of workplace, bullying, harassment and assault.