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Beyond the podium: The Australian Grand Prix partnership putting inclusion first

25 June 2026

Joanne Barrow
Head of Marketing & Digital

Partnering with All Things Equal for a world‑class sporting event, delivering inclusive employment and impact.

The Australian Grand Prix attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors, dozens of vendors, and the eyes of the world. In 2026, it also became something else: a proving ground for inclusive employment.

For the first time, certified social enterprise All Things Equal (ATE) was engaged by the Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC) to create new paid employment opportunities for people with disability within the complex environment of the Formula 1 Qatar Airways Australian Grand Prix.

Running a food and beverage outlet at one of the world's most-watched sporting events is no small undertaking. For ATE, it was exactly the kind of challenge worth taking on.

How it began

AGPC’s partnership with ATE was built deliberately over time. Through AGPC’s social procurement approach, they identified office catering as an opportunity area and began working with All Things Equal in late 2024. That early engagement gave AGPC the confidence in ATE’s quality, professionalism and ability to adapt and scale where required.

With an organisational focus on embedding ESG and social procurement into event delivery, the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix 2026 became an opportunity to test ATE’s inclusive employment model at scale.

“This opportunity came together due to a culmination of factors. We felt excited by the opportunity to introduce our work via Social Traders,” commented Jess Colgan, CEO at All Things Equal.

Social Traders played a valuable enabling role in this partnership. The certification framework provides AGPC a trusted, credible pathway to engage genuine social enterprises. Social Traders facilitated the introduction to ATE following their Australian Open activation, helping to build momentum and move the conversation into practical delivery planning with AGPC.

Share value alignment

All Things Equal stood out because they demonstrate that high quality hospitality and measurable social impact go hand in hand. Their model is designed for real service environments, which aligned to AGPC’s approach to integrate social enterprises into core event operations, not always a separate experience.

There was also a strong alignment in expectations. Both organisations approached the partnership with a shared understanding that inclusion does not require compromise. AGPC shared the quality and customer expectations, knowing that with the right preparation and support in place, All Things Equal were completely capable of meeting the high standards of a global event.

Working in partnership, achieving positive outcomes

AGPC worked with ATE as a collaborative partnership across catering, operations and event delivery. This meant working closely with ATE to adapt established processes, align expectations and ensure their team could operate confidently in a high-performance event environment. AGPC provided financial investment and operational support to enable delivery at scale within a complex global environment and to enhance the impact of the opportunity.

The result was a fully operational food and beverage outlet at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix 2026, serving approximately 3,000 customers across the event, engaging 12 trainees in award-wage employment on site and provided 106 hours of paid employment in a live event environment.

Beyond the immediate results, the activation proved that inclusive employment can succeed in high-pressure environments, while giving fans the opportunity to directly engage with a social enterprise operating at the highest level.

“Our daughter really enjoyed the opportunity. I was amazed that she coped with the noise. She feels very proud to be working at All Things Equal. I can’t tell you how much, not just this opportunity but all the opportunities, is life changing for her” - Trainee Parent

“Seeing our trainees operate at the scale and intensity of the Grand Prix was powerful. They served thousands of customers and shifted perceptions in real time. It reinforced that with the right support, people with disability belong in every part of the workforce, including large scale events like the Grand Prix. We are incredibly grateful to Formula 1 Qatar Airways Australian Grand Prix 2026 for the opportunity and look forward to further collaboration into the future!” - Bianca Stern, Head of Impact at All Things Equal

Taking steps forward

AGPC has taken a structured, organisation wide approach to embedding social procurement into how they plan and deliver events. This includes aligning to the Victorian Government’s Social Procurement Framework, as well as setting clear internal focus across areas for social impact outcomes.

In practice, they have identified priority opportunity areas across their operations and equipped teams to act on them through targeted training, tools and supplier engagement. Importantly this work is integrated across their ESG objectives and Disability Inclusion Action Plan, ensuring social impact is not delivered in isolation, but embedded across procurement, partnerships and event delivery.

This approach allows AGPC to move beyond individual activations and build a pipeline of opportunities where social enterprises can contribute across their operations.

Social Traders has also supported AGPC by providing a credible certification framework that helps identify and engage social enterprises with greater confidence. That framework reduces perceived risk, strengthens trust, and supports partnerships to be accessible and scalable over time.

On a practical level, Social Traders has also facilitated connections like the introduction to ATE, and showcased capability, helping translate social procurement intent into real supplier relationships and delivery opportunities.

A win across the board

For AGPC, they encourage other organisations to treat the partnership with certified social enterprises as core business, not a side initiative. When inclusion is embedded into standard planning, operations and delivery processes, it becomes scalable and repeatable rather than one-off. Be transparent on opportunities, limitations and challenges early. Align on non-negotiables, then work backwards to identify what support and process adjustments are needed for success. AGPC’s experience reinforced that strong partnerships are built on trust, clarity and a shared commitment to outcomes.

The initiative delivered both immediate employment outcomes and longer-term impact. For trainees, working within the Grand Prix environment provided exposure to the pace, pressure and scale of a major live event, expanding confidence and challenging assumptions about where people with disability can work and contribute.

For AGPC, the initiative reinforced that social procurement, impact partnerships and inclusive employment can be integrated into core operations while maintaining expected performance. For ATE, the experience validated the adaptability of its employment model and strengthened its ability to pursue future large-scale collaborations.

We've learned to say yes to big opportunities, even if we don't feel quite ready. Those big opportunities grow your network and your brand awareness and ultimately lead to even bigger opportunities. Partnering with well-known brands, creates greater confidence in your organisation - new partners find it easier to trust you, if they know that others have done the same. - Jess Colgan, CEO at All Things Equal.