Westpac Group and Westpac Foundation have partnered with Social Traders to sponsor the 2023 NSW and ACT Game Changer Awards and upcoming Business for Good Summit 2023, supporting a shared vision of shaping a fairer and more equitable Australia.

The Game Changer awards recognise and celebrate the impact that business and government members and certified social enterprises have on marginalised groups in the Australian community.

This year’s NSW and ACT winners were certified social enterprise Plate if Forward (PIF) and business member Mirvac. PIF and Mirvac’s partnership provides training, employment, financial security and wellbeing for vulnerable community members. To date the partnership has donated over 443,000 meals to those in need, paid wages of over $2,775,000 and provided over 58,000 hours of employment to refugees, people living with disabilities and asylum seekers.

Westpac Group Executive Manager, Supplier Inclusion and Diversity, Hannah-Jayne Shilling, said:

“Westpac Group and our Westpac Foundation are both supporting the NSW and ACT Game Changer Awards and Business for Good Summit, as we are committed to strengthening our social enterprise partners and nurture the transformative potential of the social sector.”

Westpac Group began working in partnership with Social Traders in 2015 as one of the business founding members, achieving significant social procurement milestones and winning the 2020 Social Procurement Champion Award.

The Westpac Foundation has a strong legacy in supporting the development of the social enterprise sector in Australia by investing in job creation, building long-term collaborations for change and delivering programs that drive impact. Westpac Foundation’s funding and capacity-building programs, enable social enterprises and community organisations to strengthen and scale their impact to create jobs and training opportunities for under-represented and disadvantaged communities across Australia.

Westpac Foundation Senior Advisor, Sally McGeoch said:

“At Westpac Foundation we want to build the profile and capability of the social enterprise sector and the Awards are a great way to do this by celebrating the trailblazers leading the charge in business for good and sharing their stories of success, that inspire innovation, and advocacy across the sector”.

Shilling adds: “We also recognise the opportunity social procurement presents for us to help create better futures together. Our longstanding partnership with Social Traders has supported us in engaging incredible social enterprises to meet our business’ purchasing needs while generating positive change for communities across Australia,”.

By sponsoring the Social Traders NSW and ACT Game Changer Awards and Business for Good Summit 2023, Westpac is supporting a community of trailblazers leading the charge in business for good, to share their stories of best practice to build capability, innovation and advocacy.

Social Trader’s CEO, Tara Anderson said:

“The NSW and ACT Gamechanger Awards were a unique opportunity for us to come together and celebrate business and government members, certified social enterprises, partners and collaborators doing remarkable things in this sector.”

“Social Traders has experienced year-on-year growth of 36% in total business and government membership since 2018. These members have spent $607 million with certified social enterprises growing at an average of 55% year-on-year, a testament to social procurement catching on. It’s a great time to be at this frontier and I’m excited to continue working with our members and partners to make social enterprise procurement the norm.”

The Social Traders National Trailblazer award will be announced at the Business for Good Summit on the 31st of October 2023.