Australia’s top 101 workplaces for women

March 7, 2024
workplaces for women

Are you sick of reading generic-templated-by-a-legal-team diversity statements that are haphazardly copy-pasted to the bottom of career pages and job advertisements that have no evidence of actual change to accompany this ‘commitment’?

Was International Women’s Day celebrated in your workplace with nothing more than a plate of cupcakes and a few cheesy LinkedIn posts?

Are you looking for a workplace that is really walking the talk when it comes to creating inclusive and equitable workplaces?

According to the candid results of our extensive What Women Want Survey, you’re not alone:

  • 88% of respondents said they want to know what employers are actually doing to create a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace.
  • 40% said they would be actively put off applying if a company hid their benefits and policy information.
  • 52% said they would also be put off if this information was not clear or consistent during the interviewing process.

Want to know more about our latest research on what women want in the workplace?

Download our free report.

Well, you’ve come to the right place, because our team at WORK180 has compiled a list of the top 101 workplaces for women in 2024

We scored each workplace across our 10 workplace standards to find the companies that are leading the way are taking these standards to the next level.

What are the standards we measured against?

These employers have been measured against ten standards by WORK180 including:

INCLUSIVE HIRING PROCESSES

When it comes to creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization, it’s crucial that companies provide fair and equal access to their opportunities. This starts with the hiring process. 

We champion the importance of fair and transparent hiring processes that empower women of all backgrounds and experiences to apply and know they will be genuinely considered.  This can be achieved through many different strategies, from inclusive job advertisements and a focus on transferable skills, through to clear selection and shortlisting processes and balanced interview panels. We also encourage our employers to draw on candidate feedback to continuously review and improve the overall experience.

REPRESENTATIVE LEADERSHIP

Not only do leadership teams have the ultimate decision-making power, but they can also inspire those in and outside of the organization. So while achieving diversity will have a positive impact at any level, an increased focus on achieving diversity in leadership will have the greatest impact, in both the short and long term.

That’s why we benchmark progress on balanced leadership in all its forms, whether it’s achieved through targets and quotas, internal succession planning, or other initiatives.

FLEXIBLE WORKING ARRANGEMENTS

From remote work to adjusted hours, flexibility is one of the most powerful ways in which companies can help every employee overcome workplace barriers and thrive. 

This isn’t just in a practical sense, such as opening up opportunities for those with disabilities or helping employees manage the domestic load (which disproportionately impacts many women); by normalizing flexibility for every employee, these approaches reduce the stigma attached to the practice for those that need it. This promotes shared responsibility of unpaid care, which is crucial in the fight for gender equity.

PAY EQUITY

While equal pay for equal value of work is a legal requirement, unequal access to opportunities continues to result in pay gaps between genders, races, and ethnicities. For example, many women around the world receive no pension, superannuation, or equivalent during their parental leave. Due to the intersection of systemic discrimination, these pay gaps are combined and compounded for women from underrepresented groups.

We focus on helping employers introduce policies and practices that help them work towards true pay equity. And we help them track, measure, and prove their progress through transparency and benchmarking.

SHARED CARING RESPONSIBILITY

Creating a culture that promotes and supports equal and shared responsibility for parents and carers — regardless of gender — is critical to enabling women to thrive in the workplace.

From gender-neutral parental policies through to return-to-work programs, employers can support their all-important workforce while removing damaging stereotypes. WORK180 amplifies the impact of such policies by displaying them on our transparent platform, ultimately showing women what a supportive workplace looks like.

EMPLOYEE VOICE & ERGs

Employee voice is a key part of building an equitable and inclusive organization. This means creating a culture that empowers employees, particularly those from underrepresented groups, to share their experiences, insights, and ideas.

We encourage our employers to find ways to ensure that a wide range of employee voices are listened to, learned from, and used to make lasting change. This can be achieved through initiatives such as Employee Resource Groups, regular staff engagement exercises, or ‘Ask Me Anything’ sessions.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

To address the current underrepresentation of women in leadership and in industries, such as science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM), companies can’t afford to just focus on hiring alone. It is equally important to nurture and retain the women within their organizations through career development support that builds confidence, skills, networks and direction.

Whether it comes in the form of coaching and mentoring programs, education and training opportunities, return to work initiatives, or formalized growth and succession planning, this is an area that women from all backgrounds tell us they are seeking from employers.

INCLUSIVE AND ANTI-DISCRIMINATORY CULTURE

We encourage and celebrate employers who proactively work to build inclusive and anti-discriminatory cultures in which a wide range of people can come together and thrive. This involves removing any social, physical, or mental barriers that may prevent individuals from feeling safe, comfortable, confident, or able to fully contribute in the workplace.

This can take many forms: policies related to work attire, personal grooming and acceptable workplace behaviour, initiatives that raise awareness of different cultures and communities, or even the provision of dedicated spaces, like private pumping rooms for working mothers or accessibility options for individuals with disabilities.

EMPLOYEE SAFETY AND SUPPORT SERVICES

From domestic violence to ageism and ableism, women and underrepresented groups often face a multitude of workplace barriers. We encourage employers to recognize the role they must play in the systemic removal of such barriers while offering robust (often external) support for those impacted.

Examples include Domestic Violence and Abuse (DVA) policies, Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) that provide independent and anonymous support, and health and wellbeing programs.

STRATEGIC COMMITMENTS

Ultimately, organizational change needs to be led from the top. Whether it’s at the board, shareholder or C-suite level, formalizing an organization’s ambition to build and maintain a diverse, equitable and inclusive organization through strategic commitments can be one of the most important drivers of positive change.

Through our work, we help organizations to identify the actions that will best deliver on these commitments. We also keep them accountable by publicizing their commitments and progress on our platform, which is a trusted source of career information for women around the world. 

Moreover, each of the employers has committed to transparency on what they offer across these standards and is focused on continuous improvement (because no employer is perfect!).

The top workplaces for women

The first ten on this list are ranked as the top workplaces for women in 2024 with the highest scores across all the above standards. After that, the remaining 91 employers are listed in alphabetical order. 

Click on any of the employer names to find out more about how they are creating a diverse and equitable workplace for women.

  1. EY
  2. Liberty Financial
  3. Systra ANZ
  4. Accenture
  5. Experian ANZ
  6. Essential Energy
  7. Cenitex
  8. Stake
  9. American Express
  10. Windlab Pty Limited

a | b | c | d | e| f | g | i | j | k | l | m | n | p | q | r | s | t | u | v | w

J

Jemena and Zinfra 

Didn’t find your workplace on the list?

Why not check out all our Endorsed Employers or see if your company could be eligible for endorsement.  

*Gemma Lloyds quote in the introduction was first printed as part of an article for The Herald Sun.

Discover more about these Endorsed Employers

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About the Author

Jacynta Clayton’s career started in recruitment advertising and employer branding, working with global clients to create and deploy strategic and creative content. Now she combines her industry experience with the knowledge from her psychology and professional writing degrees to write unique and resounding stories. As a WORK180 storyteller she relishes the opportunity to elevate the voices and experiences of so many amazing people, while also empowering and educating audiences on how to choose a workplace where they can thrive.

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