Woolworths Group

The 25 Year Club has been paying tribute to our long-serving Woolworths team members since its launch in 1970 with 460 foundation members. Since then, inaugural functions have been held in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Wellington, Christchurch and London, with remarks on the occasion as having “a lot of handshaking, laughter, ‘remember when’ moments, and good fellowship”. Fast forward 54 years, and we now have 19,328 active and alumni 25 Year Club members both across Australia and New Zealand. Last month, the first events this year for the 25 Year Club kicked off. In Brisbane, 1200 current and former team members came together from across Queensland, then 418 team members from Western Australia met in Perth the following week to celebrate their passion and contributions to Woolworths Group. We’re looking forward to celebrating our dedicated team in the coming weeks. Look out, New South Wales is next up! Caryn Katsikogianis, Jeanette Fenske, Danny Baldwin, Karl Weber, Shelley Wheeler, @Erica Rowbotham, Katie Mason, Gavin Wheeler, Keri Foti 

BIG W is honoured to have been gifted an incredible artwork by Melody Finlay, Availability Leader at our Mount Hutton store. Mel, a proud Wiradjuri woman who lives and works on Awabakal land, created “This Is Us” to recognise the journey of our First Nations team members and the support of allies across the business. The artwork is proudly displayed in our Support Office in Norwest, accompanied by a plaque that shares the story behind this beautiful piece.  #diversity #inclusion #FirstNations #BIGW

To mark Indigenous Business Month this October, we are so proud to showcase partner with KULBARDI, Australia’s largest Indigenous-owned holistic workplace supplier, to make its products available to purchase through our Woolworths at Work website, our B2B platform. “Kulbardi is proud to partner with Australia’s iconic retail brands in Woolworths,” says KIM COLLARD, founder and executive chairman of Kulbardi. “The impact that this partnership will have will be life changing for the many projects that the Bibbulmun Fund supports around, leadership, entrepreneurship and education.” This partnership is part of our commitment to building our First Nations supplier base for a better tomorrow. Since we have partnered with Kulbardi, we have launched more than 60 Kulbardi products on our Woolworths at Work site, which allows our business customers to purchase from an indigenous business as well as contribute towards their own Reconciliation Action Plan commitments. To learn more about Woolworths at Work, visit https://lnkd.in/gnVctCfg  To learn more about our RAP, visit https://lnkd.in/gvtWvUrv Adam Bray, Laura Patton, Jane Danziger, Rob McCartney, KULBARDI, KIM COLLARD

This week, we gathered to recognise an incredible milestone for our Menai store’s 30th anniversary. We were honored to have Jenny Ware MP and BIG W's Director for Stores and eCom, Kate Langford join the team for a heartwarming luncheon filled with shared memories, laughter, and gratitude for the opportunity to serve the Menai community with care for the past three decades. Long-serving team members, including Susanne Davis who helped open the store 30 years ago, reminisced over the changes to the store over the years including the introduction of computers to the business and the evolution of products sold. Thank you to every single team member, past and present, for your hard work, passion, and dedication to making BIG W Menai a beloved part of the community. #bigwaustralia #ourpeople

The Woolworths x Nungala Creative Art bags program has been recognised with a prestigious Australian Good Design Award in the ‘Communication Design Packaging’ category. This accolade highlights the exceptional design and positive impact of the program, which showcases up and coming Australian artists while providing customers with a functional reusable bag option. The Art Bags are designed in collaboration with Re (M&C Saatchi Consulting) & Warumungu, Wombaya woman Jessica Johnson, founder of First Nations owned and run creative agency Nungala Creative. The bags have been designed to give back to Australian communities with 20c from every Art Bag sale going to the Yothu Yindi Foundation to support the education of Yolngu students in Arnhem land in the Northern Territory. A big congratulations to the entire team who made this impactful program possible. Rhonda M., James Hepworth, Christiane Seeger, Natalya Mandelberg, Clint Johnson, Adam Bray, Jane Saleh, Sarah De La Mare, Simon Tracey, Cassie Wheeler, Emily Spicer, Julie Caulfield, Peter O'Sullivan, Andrew Hicks, Sionen Adijans, Cameron Benoist, Paul Harker, Nungala Creative, Jessica Johnson, yothu yindi foundation garma festival

A vibrant and dynamic leader, Caroline Fitzgerald is the apprenticeship program manager for Woolworths 360 at Woolworths Group. Affectionately known as the ‘Apprentice Mum’, Caroline couldn’t be prouder of her first cohort of refrigeration apprentices, who will graduate from the world-class program later this year. “I feel extremely proud of the individuals we've hired into our program,” says Caroline. “We have apprentices ranging in age, and 32 per cent of our apprentices are women. We have a lot of cultural diversity within that program as well. “As an apprentice at Woolworths, no one is restricted by whatever background or gender they are. The commonality is about having a great attitude and a real true motivation to become a great tradesperson.” A champion for diversity and inclusion, Caroline was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 20 years ago but refuses to let it define her or limit her professional success. “One of the really important things I've learnt at Woolworths Group is that no one thing is going to define exactly what your future will hold for you,” she says. “I also strongly believe you can't be what you can't see. So it could be representation around disability or around gender. I think what's really incredible to see in Woolworths Group is how much we encourage everybody to have a try, and also to bring their whole selves to work.”

As part of NAIDOC Week earlier this year, our BIG W, Primary Connect, Woolworths Supermarkets and support office teams put together and sent more than 2700 ‘Happy Boxes’ filled with toiletries and hygiene essentials for Indigenous women in some of Australia’s most remote communities. These boxes went to 30 remote communities thanks to our partnership with Happy Boxes Project, a not-for-profit organisation, providing self care products to teens, mothers, sisters, aunties and grandmothers in Indigenous communities, many of whom are central to supporting their families. Our team members lovingly packed individual boxes of products donated by businesses and team members across our Group - complete with personalised cards written to each recipient. Thank you to all our team members who donated their time for such an important cause.

Today is R U OK? Day and our teams are sporting yellow, hosting an R U OK? Day panel and raffle as well as celebrating with team lunches to show their support. This year’s theme is ‘Any Day’ - a reminder to ask family, friends and fellow team members R U OK? Any day of the year because a conversation could change a life. Today especially, we encourage team members to complete our ‘I Am Here Training’ on our SuccessFactors platform to gain the skills and confidence to have a conversation with someone that may be struggling. We have a range of wellbeing initiatives available to our team, including Sonder which gives our team and their families access to free, confidential 24/7 medical, safety, and wellbeing support. Remember, it's OK not to be OK and absolutely OK to ask for help. We all have moments when we could use a little extra support. That's why we're here for each other, as a community that cares. Together, we can make a difference. Below are some of our teams across the group who came together to recognise the importance of this day. Healthylife Good Shepherd Services Bupa

Meet Stephen Ward, our Heritage Centre manager and curator, who celebrates 51 remarkable years with Woolworths Group. Stephen started his Woolworths tenure at 15 as a casual sales assistant at the Caringbah Variety Store in New South Wales on December 13, 1973. More than five decades later, he is still filled with the same sense of passion and pride when he puts on his name badge. “Woolworths is my home away from home,” says Stephen. “It's a place where my friends and colleagues are. It's a place where we genuinely try to do our best for our team, our customers and our stakeholders every single day.” A highlight of Stephen’s career was being appointed store manager of the Bowral Variety Store at the age of 21, relocating his young family from Sydney to the NSW regional town in the Southern Highlands to take up the post. His passion and dedication was rewarded with multiple store manager appointments across the state, before he completed his Masters of Commerce and moved into senior leadership roles in many areas of the business. Even retirement in 2018 couldn’t keep Stephen away. He now manages the Heritage Centre, which houses a meticulously-curated tapestry of Woolworths’ rich history from the past 100 years. As Woolworths approaches a centennial milestone, Stephen says he is most proud of Woolworths Group’s long-standing partnerships and genuine, wide-reaching contributions to Australian communities over the past 100 years. “We've probably created in excess of five million jobs,” he says. “We created jobs right through the Great Depression and actively supported Australia’s war effort during WWII. “When we've had floods, bushfires, cyclones, we are there. We’ve provided careers, traineeships, apprenticeships and employment opportunities … and that's why we have 16,000 current and former Team Members in our 25-Year Club. “I am proud to have been able to coach, mentor and provide development opportunities for people at a personal and professional level in our business. It has been a privilege seeing them grow and flourish in their careers.” We are so lucky to have you, Stephen!

We’re proud to be the Platinum partner of the Supply Nation Connect, Australia’s largest event for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses. This year’s event took place in Meanjin, QLD, last week and it was a wonderful opportunity for our team to connect with many of our partners, make new connections and learn from one another. The trade event celebrates the power of supplier diversity - a key strategic priority for Woolworths Group.  We look forward to next year's event and continuing to support the growth of First Nations businesses. KULBARDI Adam Bray Jane Danziger Rob McCartney