Our Progress

Our goals and targets

Westpac’s diversity targets are updated in the Corporate Governance Statement each year. We also report on our progress against targets in the Annual Report and Sustainability Report.

Our progress

We're proud of the commitments we’ve made towards diversity, equity & inclusion.

Here’s a snapshot of how we’re progressing against our targets.

Upstander speak-up culture

Our Upstander initiative is a key component to drive our inclusive culture. We encourage and support our people to:

• Speak up against inappropriate behaviours in the workplace
• Build their capability and confidence, so when they see something, they say something.

By empowering our people with knowledge and understanding of our diverse communities, we’re enabling them to have informed and meaningful conversations about how to be more inclusive and supportive of all people.

Gender equality

We’re committed to achieving our objectives for achieving gender diversity at all levels. We have a dedicated strategy to support gender equality and improve the representation of women in key divisions and roles across Westpac.

This includes specific hiring practices, development programs and sponsorship opportunities to support women into more senior roles and specialist areas across the business, such as:

• Our Illuminate program offers career development and sponsorship from General Managers to support high-potential women
• The StepUP program supports mid-career women to step up into more senior roles
• Our sponsorship of Mentor Walks gives women access to senior women as mentors in many locations

Our long and proud history of advocating for women has seen us introduce a range of inclusive entitlements that benefit everyone. We were the first private company to introduce paid parental leave in Australia in 1995 and to pay superannuation on unpaid parental leave in 2010 and the first Australian Bank to introduce paid fertility leave in 2022. 

Cultural diversity

We aspire for our leaders to reflect the rich cultural diversity of our customers and workforce. To achieve this, we have a dedicated plan to support our culturally diverse employees to progress their career into more senior roles, which includes:

• Our Altitude program offering career development and sponsorship from senior leaders for culturally diverse talent
• The Cultural Diversity Shadowing Program provides opportunities for culturally diverse employees to shadow leaders in their roles
• We partner with the Asian Leadership Project to provide career development opportunities and networking for culturally diverse employees
• We have partnered with the Diversity Council Australia on the RISE Project to support culturally diverse women to advance their careers
• Culture, Lifestyle and Wellbeing leave is available to all employees and can be used to participate in culturally significant celebrations, such as Diwali, Naw Ruz and Eid al-Fitr.

LGBTQ+

We’re committed to creating a safe and inclusive workplace for our LGBTQ+ employees through building trusted communities, providing education and awareness, celebrating days of significance, and actively speaking up in the moments that matter.

We have a long history of advocating and supporting the LGBTQ+ community and employees to thrive, including:

• Saying ‘Yes’ to marriage equality – we recognised the important role that corporate Australia could play in championing equality. We proudly announced our support for voting ‘yes’ to marriage equality in 2017.
• Supporting and encouraging trans and gender-diverse employees to affirm their gender in the workplace, including providing paid leave, financial assistance, wellbeing assistance and educational resources.
• Being a member of Pride in Diversity and participating in the Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI) to continually improve and strengthen our support for the LGBTQ+ community.
• Ensuring all policies across the business, such as paid parental leave and domestic and family violence support, are explicitly inclusive of LGTBQ+ employees.
• Partnering with regional organisations like Newcastle Pride and Gold Coast Pride to deepen our connection with the community and help bring Pride to all Australians regardless of where they live.

Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Peoples

We continue to build a workplace that embraces and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures:

• We released our sixth Reconciliation Action Plan (PDF 1MB) for 2026-2028
• We create job and employment pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through dedicated programs to recruit, develop and retain

Find out more about Westpac's inclusion initiatives on our First Nations Hub.

Accessibility

We’ve been recognised as one of Australia's most accessible organisations. We ranked #1 Financial Services Company and #2 overall in the Australian Disability Networks Index (2024).

As a founding member of the Australian Disability Network holding Platinum membership, we are proud of our active role in promoting accessibility and inclusion, including:

• Our Access and Inclusion Plan details our public commitment to accessibility, focusing on equal access, inclusion, and dignity for customers, employees, and the community.
• We were the first financial institution in Australia to achieve Disability Confident Recruiter accreditation. Our Talent Acquisition team is trained in accessible recruitment processes, creating an inclusive and supportive environment for all candidates.
• We provide reasonable adjustments for candidates who are neurodivergent or have a disability, injury or illness throughout the recruitment process so they can perform their best and feel comfortable at work.
• In the workplace, we offer a range of Workplace Adjustments to employees with disability, ranging from physical modifications and assistive technologies to flexible work arrangements and communication adaptations.

Veterans

We’re committed to making it easier for veterans, reservists and military partners to take their next career step with us:

• We’ve been recognised as a Veteran Friendly Employer by the Department of Veterans Affairs – awarded the 2024 National Reserve Employer of the Year (Large Corporate) at the Defence National Employer Support Awards.
• Inducted as a Gold Member in the Defence Reserves Supportive Employer Program in recognition of our ongoing commitment to supporting our defence community.
• Our Veterans initiative aims to provide meaningful career opportunities for former military personnel transitioning into civilian careers.
• Our Defences Reserves Policy allows our people to take paid leave to undertake required training each year.
• The Buddy program, run by the Military & Mates Employee Advocacy Group, provides peer support and connections for new Westpac Group employees.

Our communities

We have 11,200 people involved in our Employee Advocacy Groups, volunteering their time to help create a more inclusive and diverse organisation.
 

Explore the employee-led communities helping us create a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace.