Where the investigation is up to

The next phase of the Inside Mecca investigation has begun.

Submitted worker accounts are now being systematically reviewed and analysed to identify recurring themes, patterns, supporting evidence and areas requiring further investigation.

This process includes reviewing accounts alongside available emails, screenshots, HR correspondence, policies, roster records and other supporting material where provided.

The analysis is focused on recurring issues including management conduct, complaint handling, fear of speaking up, rostering, career progression, psychological safety and workplace processes.

Preliminary findings will be published progressively as the review continues.

Project collaborators have begun contacting contributors who provided an email address and expressly asked for follow-up.

If this applies to you, someone assisting the project may contact you in the coming weeks. Please check your spam or junk folder so you do not miss their email.

Receiving an email does not create any obligation to respond or participate. Permission to contact you remains separate from permission to arrange an interview, identify you, quote you, publish your submission or share your information outside the project.

Contributors may decline, ask to stop contact or request that Inside MECCA remain their point of contact at any time.

Inside MECCA has completed an initial thematic review of the substantive information submitted to the project so far.

The new analysis module records what themes are recurring within the material received, such as management conduct, bullying, favouritism, and career progression. This update focuses strictly on the share of accounts describing specific themes. It does not publish submission volumes, and it does not treat self-selected accounts as representative of the wider workforce or as verified proof.

On 27 August 2026, the Daily Mail published a report by Madeleine Damo concerning the launch of the Inside MECCA research project, early submission accounts, and correspondence between MECCA Brands management and the project lead.

The project described by Daily Mail

The Daily Mail describes Inside MECCA as an independent public-interest research and advocacy project established online in August 2026 by Hana McDonald, a retail host employed casually with MECCA for nearly nine years.

According to the report, the project invites current and former MECCA team members across the company's more than 100 Australian and New Zealand stores to contribute structured accounts of workplace culture, management conduct, bullying, favouritism, rostering, career progression, and mental health.

On 25 August 2026, Meta suspended the @insidemecca Instagram account, citing community guidelines.

Inside MECCA appealed the suspension immediately. The account was reinstated on 28 August 2026.