We strive for a culture of inclusion, where team members of all genders are valued and have a voice, equitable access to opportunities and a sense of belonging. One of the ways that we continue to live our purpose is through our dedication to gender parity and inclusion. We are proud to have been awarded the Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s Employer of Choice for Gender Equality (EOCGE) citation in 2021, the first major food retailer to achieve this. The EOCGE citation is designed to encourage, recognise and promote active commitment to achieving gender equity in Australian workplaces. 

We are committed to creating an environment that recognises and values all team member talent equally. Our people ambition towards gender equity is to achieve gender‑balanced leadership teams 40:40:20 ​​by 2025. This ratio is about aiming for gender diversity in workplace leadership, be it senior leadership teams, or on the Board, and allows for natural flow into and out of the organisation. In F22, our senior leadership was 39% women, a 2% increase on F21. We are committed to pay parity and maintain less than 1% difference in gender pay in like-for-life roles.

In November 2020, we became signatories to the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), which offer guidance to businesses promoting gender equity and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community. As part of the WEPs community, Woolworths Group, from the top down, is committed to working collaboratively within multi‑stakeholder networks to foster business practices that empower women.

Family is an important part of our team members’ lives, our customers’ lives and our community.  At Woolworths Group, we want to make things better for families - including supporting our team members while they are growing their families. In Australia we provide 12 weeks paid parental leave for our team members who are primary carers and four weeks of paid leave for our team members who are secondary carers. We also provide all our permanent team members and some casual team members with unpaid parental leave entitlements in Australia. Permanent team members will have access to paid parental leave from their first day of employment. Superannuation will also be paid on all paid and unpaid leave for up to 12 months. We recognise the important role paid and unpaid parental leave plays in maintaining gender equity and supporting all of our team and so we are regularly reviewing our parental leave entitlements and looking at how we can improve the support provided to our team. 

In 2018, Woolworths Group introduced our Gender Affirmation Policy and supporting tools. By recognising the complexity and challenges team members may face during their gender affirmation journey, and improving the support we provide, we seek to show real care, and positively impact team member experience, across the Group. On the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia 2021, we announced the incorporation of a paid leave component into our existing policy. Team members will receive up to two weeks’ paid, and two weeks’ unpaid leave, to support them as they take the necessary steps to affirm their gender, a first for Australian and New Zealand retailers.