Officeworks - Diversity and inclusion

Diversity and belonging are fundamentally about team members’ wellbeing and sense of belonging. Officeworks is committed to creating a culture where team members feel valued and comfortable raising ideas and concerns, to bring out the best, most engaged versions of themselves. As a business at the forefront of serving diverse communities across Australia, it is important to Officeworks that team members also reflect the communities in which they live and work. 

During the 2021 financial year, Officeworks improved team diversity across the business as it delivered the first year of its Diversity and Belonging (DB) plan. This year, the DB plan was underpinned with a key focus on building awareness and knowledge across four pillars: Thought, Identity, Accessibility and First Nations. An important part of the plan was the establishment of a Diversity Council that is chaired by Officeworks’ Managing Director, Sarah Hunter, to provide governance across diversity and belonging activities at Officeworks. Members of the Officeworks Leadership Team sponsor each one of the pillars.   

A series of initiatives took place under each of these pillars, including: 

• a continued partnership with the Clontarf Foundation to support and increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) representation to 3.8 per cent by 30 June 2021. A successful pilot pathways program was also developed with the Australian Retailers Association for three ATSI team members in Greater Sydney area to support Indigenous career development 

• raising awareness of issues relating to each pillar through recognition and participation in key events such as NAIDOC Week, Reconciliation Week, International Women’s Day, Wear it Purple Day, IDAHOBIT Day and RUOK Day. Officeworks launched rainbow and Indigenous artwork lanyards to demonstrate to team members and customers that Officeworks actively supports and creates a safe environment 

• a diversity and belonging training program developed to educate team members and increase the understanding of minority groups 

• engagement with Untapped Group to pilot recruitment for a team of neurodiverse talent during the Back-to-School translation team. Untapped Group provided training and support for line managers to provide guidance on how to manage and support a neurodiverse team member 

• support for working families and carers with Officeworks’ Growing Families Policy and the Circle In platform to provide webinars and wellbeing information, to support all team members and families at any stage of life. Additional support and resources were provided to team members throughout the periods they were required to work and learn from home 

• the first Wesfarmers grant awarded through the Building Outstanding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Businesses (BOAB) fund to Cultural Choice, an Aboriginal owned supplier of office supplies products. This forms part of Officeworks’ supplier diversity strategy to support growth and capability building within the Indigenous business sector. Case study here.

Officeworks recognises there is still more to do in the years ahead to deliver the Diversity and Belonging plan. Next year, Officeworks will continue to undertake key initiatives aligned to the four pillars and build on promoting education and awareness for all team members.