Family Friendly Workplaces Blog

‘Part of our DNA’: The a2 Milk Company’s family-friendly approach
We learn more about the a2 Milk Company’s family-friendly initiatives and policies aimed at supporting parents, carers and women, thanks to our partnership with Family

Leadership culture ‘makes or breaks’ even the most generous workplace policies
Employers are still feeling the pressure to compete for the best talent in a continuing tight labour market, despite the challenging economic headwinds from the

Reimagining the Future of Work and Family
Insights from the Future of Work & Family Policy Executive Roundtable Melbourne. 29th August 2023. “The future depends on what you do today.” –

Long live the office? The future for flexible work as the work from home era changes
More and more employers are issuing rules on the future of working from home. So what next for the office, and how will employers support

Remote work, family and rising to the C-Suite
Claire McCaffery is Chief Human Resources Officer at Accenture who has been with the employer for 20 years – working flexibly and mostly from home

How Workday elevated support for employee wellbeing
Melissa Bowden is at a unique point in her career where she’s excelling within an international leadership role, while also dealing with competing care-related pressures.

Can Australia accelerate the take up of men sharing parental leave?
From July 2023 new parents will have more flexibility in how they apply for and share parental leave, as well as access to the new

Grandparents leave and 18 weeks paid parental leave for all new parents: HCF’s ‘support from day one’ focus
We learn more about HCF’s family-friendly initiatives and policies aimed at supporting parents and carers, thanks to our partnership with Family Friendly Workplaces. Angela

How NBCUniversal deploys ‘Ambassadors’ to support women
Rebecca Heredia’s career in media and entertainment took years of hard work to achieve, including plenty of rejections and more than a dozen interviews before

The ‘Social’ within ESG is an opportunity for Socially Responsible Workplaces
The growing interest in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing is pushing organisations to evolve how they operate to meet stakeholder expectations. For the

2023 Family Friendly Workplaces Insights
Progress update of workplace data Future Trends Latest Certified Workplaces Today, Family Friendly Workplaces is proud to announce, as part of National Families Week

Announcing the new Family Friendly Workplaces Advisory Group
We are thrilled to announce the creation of the Family Friendly Workplaces Advisory Group, a high-profile team of industry influencers dedicated to making Australia one

The vital push for a “right to disconnect” in blueprint for workers with caring responsibilities
Australia has a significant opportunity to modernise how we combine work and care. Now a landmark Senate report provides a roadmap on how to get

Cracking the code by focusing on family-friendly ways of working #IWD2023
FFW – IWD 2023 Emma Walsh video

We must crack the code on women’s attrition in STEM
A strong and diverse workforce is essential across the science, tech, engineering, and mathematics sectors (STEM) to address some of our nation’s most confronting and

Leave loudly, you won’t get that time again: Chief winemaker and Dad Tim Pelquest-Hunt
As the Chief Winemaker of Orlando Wines based in Barossa Valley, Tim Pequest-Hunt knows all too well the “one shot to get it right”

GLOBAL WORKPLACE EQUALITY LEADER URGES CHANGES TO PARENTAL LEAVE AMENDMENT BILL
Enhanced paid parental leave and gender-neutral policies are key if Australian employers are to meet gender and wage gap targets says Parents At Work CEO

Lessons from Australia: how family-friendly policies support gender equality
Published this week in a special edition Essays on Equality: The politics of childcare, from the Global Institute of Women’s Leadership, is Lessons from Australia:

4 day work weeks and stronger leave policies: The top workplace trends we’ll see in 2023
In many respects the illusive future of work has arrived – the monumental shifts in how and where we work that have occurred over the

The ‘investment’ over ‘deficit’ of paid parental leave – is Australia family-friendly enough?
It’s fair to say there’s been a reboot and reinvigorated discussions around the criticality of investing in paid parental leave reform this year from across

MEDIA RELEASE: Maximising parental leave through Government and employer schemes from The Hon Amanda Rishworth MP
Today, Emma Walsh, founder of Family Friendly Workplaces (FFW) joined Minister for Social Services, The Hon Amanda Rishworth MP, to mark the Albanese Government’s commitment

How family-friendly employers are thinking about what it means to ‘care’
A summary by Women’s Agenda of the Inaugural Work&Care Summit (October 2022) speaking to the opportunities businesses have to support greater work life wellbeing.

First responders, loaner phones and emergency accommodation: How Lion is responding to domestic and family abuse
Lion’s revamped domestic and family violence abuse policy sets a new benchmark for supporting employees to access the help they need. Revamped in

The sick day and office ‘perks’ need an overhaul to support mental health
The need for and the way we use a ‘sick day’ changed dramatically during the pandemic. For some employees, access to paid sick leave remains

Best practice advice from UNICEF to support Family Friendly Workplaces certification
In their latest report ‘Integrating Child Rights across the ASX’, UNICEF Australia provides leading organisations with recommendations on how to increase their focus on safeguarding

Workplaces have the power to help end family and domestic violence
We know that employers play a key role in supporting those experiencing domestic and family violence. But with the shift in working from home,

Finally, we’re seeing big policy promises that will transform Australia
The last few weeks have seen once-in-a-generation policy promises announced that could significantly transform the future for families in Australia, as well as our overall

Formalising flexibility has helped this workplace become more family friendly
Sue Whipps has always been a strong advocate for the flexibility that family friendly workplaces provide employees. As the Country Head of People and

How some of Australia’s largest companies are supporting working parents
Last week was the United Nations’ Global Parent’s Day (June 1). To mark the occasion, UNICEF Australia and Parents At Work released a new research

New report evidences key enablers and benefits of Family Friendly Workplaces
Flexible work and gender-neutral policies key priorities for family focused Australian employers Highlights The Report from Parents At Work and UNICEF Australia has found