Revealed: The 106 best employers for both women and men in Australia

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) has released its annual list of Employers of Choice for Gender Equality.

This year the list features 106 companies, up from 90 last year and 76 in 2014, despite more rigorous criteria. WGEA Director Libby Lyons said the growing list indicated that the business benefits and competitive advantage gained by addressing gender equality in the workplace were becoming more widely recognised.

“Employers increasingly recognise that equal participation by women and men at all levels of an organisation is good for workplace culture and performance,” Lyons said.

“WGEA data shows there is progress towards gender equality in Australian workplaces, but it is too slow. It is only through more employers taking the initiative to promote gender equality in the workplace that we will see the pace of change pick up.”

The organisations that made the cut range from small professional services firms to very large organisations including universities and banks, with male-dominated, female-dominated and mixed industries represented.

Trends among this year’s recipients which span industries from transport, engineering, manufacturing, insurance and law, include:

• flexibility for all employees across an organisation;

• programs to support women into leadership and technical positions;

• tailored parental leave and return-to-work policies;

• supporting men’s caring responsibilities; and

• robust analysis and correction of gender pay gaps.

The top 106 “Employers of Choice” this year are:

• Accenture Australia Ltd
• AECOM Australia Pty Ltd
• Alcoa of Australia Limited
• Allens
• Allianz Australia Services Pty Limited
• American Express Australia Limited
• AMP Limited
• ARC@UNSW Limited
• Arup Pty Limited
• Ashurst
• ASX Limited
• Aurecon Australasia Pty Ltd
• Aurizon Holdings Limited
• Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited
• Australian Catholic University
• AustralianSuper Pty Ltd
• B & McK Services Trust
• Baker & McKenzie
• Baxter Healthcare Pty Ltd
• Becton Dickinson Pty Ltd
• Benetas
• Brightside
• Bankwest
• Caltex Australia Limited
• Carsales.com Limited
• Citigroup Pty Limited
• Clayton Utz
• Commonwealth Bank of Australia
• Cooper Grace Ward Lawyers
• Corrs Chambers Westgarth
• Credit Union Australia Ltd
• Curtin University
• Deakin University
• Deloitte Australia
• DLA Piper Australia
• Dow Chemical (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
• Edith Cowan University
• EY
• First State Super
• GE Australia Pty Ltd
• Genworth
• GHD Services Pty Ltd
• Gilbert + Tobin
• Griffith University
• HESTA
• Henry Davis York
• Herbert Smith Freehills
• Holding Redlich
• HSBC Bank Australia Limited
• Jacobs Group (Australia) Pty Ltd
• K&L Gates
• King & Wood Mallesons (Australia)
• Konica Minolta Business Solutions Australia Pty Ltd
• KPMG Australia
• La Trobe University
• Lauriston Girls’ School
• Lend Lease Corporation Limited
• Little Company of Mary Health Care Limited
• Maddocks
• McCullough Robertson Lawyers
• McKinsey and Company
• Medibank Private Limited
• Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific Pty Ltd
• Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Australia Pty Ltd
• Merck Sharp & Dohme (Australia) Pty Ltd
• Mercy Health
• Minter Ellison
• Mirvac Group
• Monash University
• National Australia Bank Limited
• Norton Rose Fulbright Australia
• Origin Energy Limited
• Peoplebank Australia Limited
• PepsiCo
• Philip Morris Limited
• PPG Industries Australia Pty Ltd
• Publicis Loyalty
• PwC
• Queensland Country Credit Union Limited
• QUT
• SAP Australia Pty Ltd
• Shell Australia Pty
• St Barbara Limited
• Stockland
• Suncorp
• Swinburne University of Technology
• Tabcorp Holdings Limited
• TAL Services Limited
• Teachers Health Fund
• Teachers Mutual Bank Limited
• Telstra Corporation Limited
• The Law Society of New South Wales
• The University of Newcastle
• ThoughtWorks Australia Pty Ltd
• Transurban Limited
• UBS AG
• University of Canberra
• University of Southern Queensland
• University of Technology Sydney
• University of Wollongong
• UOW Enterprises
• VMware Australia Pty Ltd
• Warrigal
• Western Sydney University
• Westpac Group
• YWCA Canberra

This article was first published by Women’s Agenda.