Listening to our stakeholders
Engaging with stakeholders allows us to understand and address their expectations through active listening and our materiality assessment process.
Our approach
We engage with our stakeholders to understand and report on the expectations and interests of key stakeholder groups. Stakeholder perspectives also inform our approach to identifying material sustainability topics, which is guided by Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Universal Standards 2021.
How we’re taking action
Our sustainability management framework, which includes internal frameworks, policies and committees, also supports our stakeholder engagement process. External stakeholder perspectives and feedback play an important role in helping us inform our approach.
A number of channels enable us to further understand concerns and respond to stakeholders:
Our sustainability materiality process
Assessing our material sustainability topics
Each year, we identify our most material sustainability topics to help guide our strategy and focus on the areas of most importance to all our stakeholders.
The approach to determining our sustainability topics is guided by various global standards, most notably the GRI and its method for assessing materiality. GRI defines materiality as the significance of the impacts of our business activities on the economy, environment and people, including impacts on human rights.
The concept of ‘materiality’ for sustainability matters differs from the more commonly used term of ‘materiality’ that applies to financial statements, which in turn is determined by Australian and international accounting standards. The two concepts are linked to the extent that a material sustainability issue may ultimately impact a company’s financial results. For instance, we annually assess whether the impacts of climate change have a ‘material’ impact on our balance sheet or income statement.
To identify our material sustainability topics, we begin with the risks recorded in Westpac’s integrated risk and compliance management system and prioritise sustainability-related risks with a higher ‘Inherent Risk Rating’. Our risk management process is described in our 2026 Annual Report.
We also examine recorded incidents, external benchmarks and frameworks, and engage with internal and external stakeholders. We condense this work to a list of material sustainability topics which we then validate through discussions with senior management. The results are presented to the Board Audit Committee and approved by the Board as part of our annual financial reporting.
Our material sustainability topics inform our sustainability-related disclosures. References to these topics may use different terminology or presentation formats where appropriate, while remaining aligned to the underlying material sustainability topics.
Identify, record and extract impacts
Identify actual and potential impacts through:
- Impacts/issues from prior year’s materiality assessment.
- Sustainability standards, benchmarks and assessments from sustainability rating agencies.
- Risks and incidents from our integrated risk and compliance management system (JUNO).
- AGM minutes.
- Areas of focus from our Sustainability Strategy.
Analyse and prioritise impacts
- Extract impact assessment and risk rating from our integrated risk and compliance management system.
- Prioritise sustainability and ESG impacts with a severe impact or higher ‘Inherent Risk Rating’.
- Consider positive impact from our Sustainability Strategy and prioritise when relevant.
- Condense list of material sustainability topics from the impacts prioritised.
Validation and Review
- Validate list of material sustainability topics with senior management and a select group of external stakeholders.
- Present the material sustainability topics to the Board Audit Committee for review and feedback as part of the annual reporting process.
Review and Report
- Obtain external assurance over our alignment with the GRI Standards materiality assessment requirements.
- Publicly disclose information relating to our material sustainability topics in our Annual Report, Sustainability Report, Sustainability Index and Datasheet and other disclosures on our website.
Our risk management process, described in our 2026 Annual Report, explains how we assess and record risks, including how we integrate social and environmental aspects.
Our FY26 sustainability material topics
We have observed limited changes in material sustainability topics since FY24. This year, we streamlined our list for clarity and relevance. Work culture and Talent attraction and retention were merged under Employee engagement, while Ethics and business conduct and Anti-bribery and corruption were combined under Ethics and business conduct. We also prioritised a new material topic: Supporting housing affordability and Security following the area of focus from our Sustainability Strategy. We separated Communities and Indigenous people as two separate topics. Some other topics were renamed to better reflect their scope. These updates ensure our focus remains aligned with stakeholder priorities and business goals.
Our material topics are listed below. Information for each of them is included on our website and in our Annual Report.
Topics that have significant positive or negative impacts on the economy, environment and people (our list of material sustainability topics)
Learn more about our positions and material topics here.
Your feedback
We know how important it is to listen and respond to customer and community concerns on a wide range of issues and we are committed to doing business in a responsible manner.
If you would like to provide feedback or raise an issue, you can contact sustainability@westpac.com.au.
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