This National Carers Week (12–18 October 2025), Australia recognises more than three million unpaid carers – the parents, partners, children and friends who provide daily support to loved ones through childhood, disability, chronic illness, ageing and kinship care.

New data released from Family Friendly Workplaces (FFW) reveals a mixed picture of progress and opportunity. The findings, drawn from more than two years of Family Inclusive Workplace™ Certification assessments, name Australia’s top-scoring workplaces when it comes to implementing policies and practices that actively support employees with caregiving responsibilities for the first time – while also exposing a critical gap: less than half (45.3%) of employers track how many people have caregiving responsibilities in their workplace.

The State of Family Care in Australia’s Workplaces

The FFW Family Care Index provides Australia’s first national benchmark on how well workplaces are supporting employees with caring responsibilities. Across 149 certified organisations, the median score was just 56%, showing most still have room for improvement.

Among the highest-scoring workplaces are Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Workday, QBE Insurance, HCF, NRMA, Deloitte Australia, and IFM Investors.

Encouragingly, the data shows significant progress:

• 93% of certified employers now offer responsive, flexible work arrangements.
• 94% have taken proactive action to address carer-related discrimination.
• 60%+ 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.
• 40% now formally acknowledge kinship care.

“We’re seeing real progress from employers committed to creating all-inclusive, family-friendly workplaces,” says Emma Walsh, CEO of Parents At Work. “But awareness is key – if you don’t know who has caregiver needs in your workplace, you can’t be confident your organisation is responding effectively.. The next frontier is making sure every organisation has the insights they need to turn good intentions into great outcomes.”

Why This Matters to Business

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™.

Chief Advocate for Children at UNICEF Australia, Nicole Breeze, explains why this is crucial for communities now and into the future.

“Supporting the wellbeing of our working parents and carers, both men and women, we can promote gender equality and safeguard the wellbeing of our children to be happy, healthy and safe. A healthy balance of work and home life is pivotal to the family unit and to everyone’s wellbeing within that unit. In my own experience, being part of an organisation that celebrates all family types and recognises the importance of family commitments – whether it’s attending a school assembly or being home with my child when they’re sick – adds to the quality of my life.”

The business case is now backed by national data. The 2024 National Working Families Survey – covering more than 6,200 parents and carers – shows employees in certified workplaces are more likely to have access to flexible hours or locations (92% vs 75% in non-certified), are more satisfied with work–life balance (65% vs 58%), and are more likely to stay – 83% wouldn’t apply for new roles without flexibility on offer. They also report fewer negative consequences, such as missed promotions or reduced training opportunities.

Certified organisations are increasingly embedding family care as a core business essential, rather than a “nice-to-have” perk.

At QBE Insurance, Shiona Watson, Chief People Officer, says this commitment runs deep.

 

“At QBE, our people are central to our success. Embedding family-friendly workplace practices is essential for the modern workplace and critical to empowering our people to build resilience and thrive, both at home and work.

 

As a family-friendly accredited workplace, we aim to actively promote, normalise and mainstream caring in all its forms. Our approach extends far beyond a policy – it’s a sustained strategy driven by visible commitment, flexibility and access to practical support across diverse life stages.

 

Flexibility and respect for individual family needs are not just the right thing to do – they make business sense, delivering positive outcomes for our communities, our business and our economy.”

Flexibility in Action

For Melissa Bowden, Senior HR Director for Asia Pacific & Japan at Workday, caring goes far beyond parenting. She has the “carer trifecta” – a mother to a twelve-year-old son, the legal guardian of her brother who has an intellectual disability, and supports her 81-year-old mother. 

“It really does take a village,” Melissa says. “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.”

Workday – one of the top-scoring employers on the FFW Family Care Index – used its certification process to broaden its policies, extending leave and flexibility to cover a wider range of caring scenarios, including elder care, domestic violence and bereavement.

By sharing her own experience, Melissa is helping to normalise conversations about caring responsibilities at work and encouraging others across Workday to access the support available.

At IFM Investors, the philosophy is similar.

How Employers Can Care More

This National Carers Week is a call for employers to invest in Family Care as a core business strategy. Leading organisations are taking practical steps across policy, culture and support systems to help employees balance work and care.

• Lead with culture: normalise caring, model flexibility, and build manager capability in empathy and fairness.
• Embed flexibility: enable hybrid and adjustable work hours, focus on outcomes, and codify short-notice adjustments.
• Design inclusive policies: reflect diverse family realities – foster, kinship, elder care, disability and domestic-violence support.
• Build carer networks: establish employee resource groups, celebrate carers’ contributions, and provide return-to-work coaching.

When carers are recognised, everyone benefits – employees feel valued, workplaces see stronger retention and engagement, and business outcomes rise.

Join the 720+ organisations already lifting their Family Care Standard by completing the free 15-minute Family Inclusive Workplace Benchmark Assessment today.

FFW Family Care Index – Top Scoring Carer-Friendly Workplaces (alphabetical order)