Australia’s top-scoring workplaces for carers have been revealed in new national data released today from Family Friendly Workplaces (FFW).
Among the highest-scoring workplaces when it comes to supporting employees with caregiving responsibilities are Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Workday, QBE Insurance, HCF, The NRMA, Deloitte Australia, and IFM Investors.
The other employers on the list of 22 include AGL Energy, Carsales, Endeavour Energy, Gilchrist, Investa, KPMG, Lion, Macquarie Group, Marsh McLennan, McCulloch Robertson, Medibank, QIC, RSM Australia, Steadfast Group and Transport for NSW.
FFW Family Care Index
Australia’s first national benchmark on how well workplaces are supporting employees with caring responsibilities, the FFW Family Care Index lists the top-scorers drawn from over two years of Family Inclusive Workplace™ Certification assessments.
The data sample included 149 certified organisations from September 2023 to 2025, across sectors including finance, health, utilities, professional services and agriculture.
While the data shows significant progress for workplaces implementing policies and practices that actively support employees with caregiving responsibilities, the FFW Family Care Index also revealed there’s work to be done.
Less than half (45.3 per cent) of employers track how many people have caring responsibilities in their workplaces, according to the data. And yet, nearly one in five Australians have been shown to provide unpaid care.
“The FFW Family Care Index shows that while many organisations are making progress over time, too many are still flying blind,” said Emma Walsh, the CEO of Parents at Work.
“If you don’t know how many carers you have in your workforce, how can you possibly design policies that meet their needs?”
The Family Friendly Workplaces™ Certification is delivered by Parents At Work in partnership with UNICEF Australia. They define carer responsibilities as including support for children, disability, ageing parents, chronic illness, kinship care and more.
For Australia’s 3 million unpaid carers, some of the more positive data findings shown in the Index are that 93 per cent of certified FFW employers now offer responsive flexible work arrangements and 94 per cent have taken proactive action to address carer-related discrimination.
More than 60 per cent now have fully inclusive parent and carer policies that explicitly call out support for those caring for children, the elderly, those with a disability, those experiencing family and domestic abuse and chronic illness. And 40 per cent formally acknowledge kinship care.
Founded by Parents At Work in partnership with UNICEF Australia, Family Friendly Workplaces benchmarks employers against the Global Work + Family Standards and certifies leaders as Family Inclusive Workplaces™.
Supporting care needs
In line with this week’s National Carers Week (12 to 18th October), Chief People and Purpose Officer at Deloitte, Pip Dexter said nearly 40 per cent of their team members are carers.
“We know that flexibility isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s essential to their wellbeing and performance,” she said.
“National Carers Week is an opportunity to acknowledge the incredible contributions of unpaid carers across our community – people who support loved ones while often balancing work, family, and everything in between.”
Another one of the Index’s top workplace scorers is Workday, where Senior HR Director for Asia Pacific & Japan Melissa Bowden said she feels well supported at work as a mother to a twelve-year-old son, the sister and legal guardian of an intellectually disabled brother and a supporter of her 81-year-old mother.
“It really does take a village,” Bowden said. “I can keep performing in my role because leadership supports me with the flexibility and understanding I need to manage caring at home. When organisations openly recognise carers, it makes an enormous difference.”
As part of its efforts, Workday broadened its leave policies and flexibility through the FFW certification process, ensuring support extends to diverse caring scenarios such as elder care, domestic violence, and bereavement.
Bowden adds that being open about sharing her experiences is helping to normalise caregiving conversations and encouraging other employees at Workday to access the support available.
Calling on more organisations to work towards achieving the Family Friendly Workplaces certification, Parents At Work and Family Friendly Workplaces are encouraging employers to take the free 15-minute Family Inclusive Workplace Benchmark Assessment and join the more than 720 organisations that’ve already done so.
The FFW Family Care Index – Top Scoring Workplaces for Carers (alphabetical order)
AGL Energy
Carsales
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Deloitte Australia
Endeavour Energy
Gilchrist Connell
HCF
IFM Investors
Investa
KPMG
Lion
Macquarie Group
Marsh McLennan
McCulloch Robertson
Medibank
QBE
QIC
RSM Australia
Steadfast Group
The NRMA
Transport for NSW
Workday