In 2023, Westpac set a bold target to lend $1 ­billion to women in business. Since then, it has backed almost 2200 women to start or grow a business and reached that ambitious billion-dollar mark.

 

Two of those women were Kris Fazzari, 48, and her sister, Jade Wyatt, 44. It wasn’t just the $20,000 business loan from Westpac that allowed them to open Squirrel & Sparrow Bookstore, it was the bank’s ongoing support.

 

The idea of opening a regional bookstore specialising in self-published Australian romance and fantasy authors could have been easily ­dismissed. 

 

“I didn’t think we would get the loan, I’m a single mum, but we wanted to go for it,” Wyatt said. “Westpac was legit amazing. We dealt with Manesh Renata Gortan Fernando, he bent over backwards for us.

 

"He read between the lines and saw what we couldn’t see, he invested in us and who we were.”

 

The next chapter in the bank’s commitment to backing women in business is launching the Westpac Female Founder Awards. Designed to recognise, elevate and support women who are building meaningful, resilient businesses, the Awards offer a total prize pool of $200,000 including mentoring and leadership training.

 

There are three categories, Trailblazer, Greater Good and Thrive - each carrying a $10,000 prize, with one outstanding finalist selected as the overall Founder of the Year, winning a $30,000 prize and a one month advertising campaign valued at $120,000.

 

Westpac managing director of business lending Tamara Bryden said the Awards send a clear signal that women’s ideas are strong, viable and genuinely worth backing.

“Confidence doesn’t build a business. Access does,” she said.

 

“The Westpac Female Founder Awards recognise bold ideas, exceptional ­execution and lasting impact. It is backing women with mentoring and leadership support to help their businesses grow.”

 

Westpac chief executive, business and wealth, Paul Fowler is seeing female-led businesses grow across every state and territory, driven by Westpac’s startup loan, which assesses applicants on the strength of a business plan and financial projections, not whether they hold any property assets.

 

“While capital cities still account for the largest share of new and scaling businesses, some of the strongest momentum is now coming from outside the major metros – particularly in regional Queensland and Western Australia,” he said.

 

"That shift matters because it shows women led business growth is increasingly driving regional jobs and local economies.”

 

That’s true of Squirrel & Sparrow, which opened in Victor Harbor, a coastal town in South Australia. Four months in and the business is breaking even, with projected future growth. It is also stocking artisanal products, from 3D art to resin earrings, made by locals.

 

“People don’t just want a product, they want a story,” Fazzari said. “Customers want products made by their neighbours, something that supports their community.”

 

Even though Fazzari has an impressive retail background managing global brands, she gets patronising comments when people find out she owns a bookstore. It’s why she’s thrilled Westpac is doing more to support female entrepreneurship.

 

“Women are the underdogs in small business,” she said. “People go: ‘Oh, how precious, look at these girls opening a nice store.’ It’s not a great feeling considering we have decades of management and business experience.”