Creating a more inclusive Australia, together

31 Jan 2019

 

Westpac Foundation’s mission is to help change 100,000 lives for the better in Australia by 2030.

 

Investment in job creation and helping local communities are just some of the key pillars of Westpac Foundation’s 2030 strategy as proudly revealed in their 2018 Impact Report (PDF 4MB).

 

Chem works for Jigsaw, a social enterprise that provides employment, work experience and skills development to people living with a disability. Jigsaw employees, like Chem, work with corporate and government clients to digitise their paper records. Watch Chem’s story below:

Here’s a look at the foundation’s approach and some of the highlights from 2018:

 

Investing for job creation

Providing funding and programs to help social enterprises looking to scale their business and create more jobs and training opportunities for people facing barriers to mainstream employment.

 

2018 highlights:

  • 4 new social enterprise grants of $300,000 over 3 years awarded in 2018
  • $1.45M grants paid
  • 1,516 jobs and 3,675 employment pathways created by social enterprises supported by Westpac Foundation (cumulative) since 2015

A range of programs to help build the capacity of the organisations that we support.

 

2018 highlights:

  • 545 Westpac employees volunteered their time and skills
  • 12,790 skilled volunteering hours
  • 200 organisations supported
  • 93% of our community partners said the support helped them to be more effective

Support for small not-for-profits that are making a difference in local communities all around Australia.

 

2018 highlights:

  • 200 Community Grants of $10,000 each awarded $2.1M^ grants paid
  • 30,000 people estimated to be supported in the community as a result of the 200 grants
  • 81% of applications received were nominated by a Westpac Group employee

By measuring our impact, sharing our learnings and building partnerships with businesses, government and the social sector we can create greater impact, together.

 

Over the years, we have formed strong connections with a wide range of organisations to deepen the support we can offer the social enterprises and community organisations we work with.

 

This is the newest pillar of our 10 year strategy, recognising the power of collaboration to help change lives for the better.

 

For more stories like Chem’s and the organisations that Westpac Foundation supports, read our 2018 Impact Report (PDF 4MB).