2022 Australian Workplace Giving Award winners announced!

MEDIA RELEASE – Friday 25 November 2022

Gold Awards were presented to:

• Best Overall Program – large: King & Wood Mallesons
• Best Overall Program – small & medium: Bain & Company
• Best Employer Grants: Jointly awarded – ANZ and Commonwealth Bank
• Best Charity / Employer Partnership: UNICEF Australia with National Australia Bank
• Best Innovation: The Good Guys
• Best Launch / Refresh: Ampol Limited
• Best Pro Bono / Workplace Volunteering: Origin Energy Foundation

The winners of the 2022 Australian Workplace Giving Awards were announced in joint ceremony between Sydney and Melbourne yesterday. Compered by legendary Australian broadcaster Geraldine Doogue AO, the ceremony was attended by Ms Libby Cremen, Branch Manager, Community Cohesion Branch of the Department of Social Services as well as senior leaders from Australia’s corporate and Not-For-Profit (NFP) organisations.

The Awards celebrate significant achievements in the corporate and charitable sectors.  Moving beyond strictly payroll giving, all forms of workplace giving were celebrated. Pre-tax payroll giving programs, to innovative charity and employer partnerships, employee-nominated grants programs, and more were acknowledged for their commitment to making Australia a more charitable society.

Hosted by One Million Donors, the Awards are sponsored by Workplace Giving Australia, an Australian charity created to advise employers on how to develop best practice giving programs, and advocate for giving at work as the easiest and most effective way for working Australians to support charity.

Awarded Gold for Best Overall Program, King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) set a high bar for donor participation and charitable impact. Their workplace giving program “DigDeep®” continues to thrive, with over $766M raised and distributed to Community Partners. This fully integrated program is multi-faceted and has included over $1.4M of pro bono hours donated by over 90% of their legal staff. Their volunteering program is a leading example of the power of cross sector collaboration, creating opportunities for their own staff, and the staff of their program partners.

The Good Guys ‘Amazing Race’ campaign was awarded Gold for Best Innovation. The program worked to bring team leaders closer to community outcomes in a truly memorable campaign as part of their ‘Doing Good’ program. Creating a stronger more knowledgeable connection between leaders and the charitable impact of the program has inspired increased internal advocacy, and an understanding that workplace giving is much more than ‘just a donation’.

In a new category for this year, Best Employer Grants Program was off to an inspiring start. With the standard of entrants high, judges awarded two gold awards to ANZ and Commonwealth Bank respectively. Commonwealth Bank were applauded for their inclusive program, with ANZ recognized for a highly integrated employee-led program.

Judging panel Chair, QUT’s Associate Professor Wendy Scaife said, “I commend all organisations that offer their employees the ease, convenience and collective impact of workplace giving. Communities are benefiting and in these days of the Great Resignation, workplaces are seeing their workplace giving add more sense of purpose. Employees across the whole organisation are using their time, talents and donations to help solve community issues and create needed opportunities.”

Full list of winners below:

Best Pro Bono / Workplace Volunteering

Gold                                       Origin Energy Foundation

Silver                                     King & Wood Mallesons

Bronze                                  PwC Australia

Best Launch / Refresh

Gold                                      Ampol Limited

Silver                                     Mutual trust

Highly Commended              Domino’s Pizza Enterprises

Highly Commended              EnergyAustralia

Best Innovation

Gold                                      The Good Guys

Silver                                     Tomago Aluminum

Bronze                                  Ampol Limited

Best Charity / Employer Partnership

Gold                                      UNICEF Australia with National Australia Bank

Silver                                     sleepbus with JB Hi-Fi Limited

Bronze                                  UNICEF Australia with IKEA Australia

Best Employer Grants Program

Gold                                      Jointly awarded to ANZ and Commonwealth Bank

Bronze                                  Australia Post

Best Overall Program – Small & Medium

Gold                                      Bain & Company

Silver                                     Macpherson Kelley

Bronze                                  Pepperstone

Highly Commended              Catholic Church Insurance

Best Overall Program – Large

Gold                                      King Wood & Mallesons

Silver                                     Petspiration Group

2022 Award booklet can be viewed here.

Media contacts: Rania Chamie, rania.chamie@workplacegivingaustralia.org.au

Background

The Workplace Giving Awards are part of the One Million Donors campaign, whose mission is to achieve one million Australians donating to charity direct from their pay. The Awards are a key pillar of the campaign. One Million Donors is spearheaded by Workplace Giving Australia and supported by high profile employers and charities, as well as leading community organisations. www.1MDonors.org.au