Home › News & Insights › The businesses setting the standard for social performance

The businesses setting the standard for social performance

16 October 2026

Joanne Barrow
Head of Marketing & Digital

Meet the three finalists for the 2026 Business Excellence in Social Performance Award.

Photo: Australian Spatial Analytics

The Business Excellence in Social Performance Award recognises the changes organisations implement to create more social impact, improving their social performance year on year.

Social performance is the impact a business has on people, suppliers, community and customers.

This year’s finalists are Westpac, UNSW and Fulton Hogan. They show what happens when social performance becomes part of everyday business.

Westpac

Westpac links its purpose, Taking Action Now for a Better Future, to measurable targets, governance and accountability across its workforce, supply chain and community programs. It discloses performance in its Sustainability Index and annual reporting.

For its people, Westpac ranks first in financial services on the Access and Inclusion Index. It was named 2024 National Reserve Employer of the Year and holds Veteran Friendly Employer recognition. Its gender, LGBTQ+ and First Nations programs, including the EmPOWER re-entry pathway and cadetships, carry formal targets and tracked metrics.

In its supply chain, Westpac screened 672 suppliers through its Responsible Sourcing Program in FY25 and completed more than 100 action plans. Diverse supplier spend doubled between FY23 and FY25.

Westpac Foundations and Westpac Trust delivered $10.6 million in community investment in FY25, taking the total past $100 million since 2015. They supported 158 partners and scholars. Employees gave 1,925 volunteering hours and served as 64 Board Observers and 91 Community Ambassadors. Of its partners, 93% reported improved organisational capacity and 85% said non-financial support was effective.

All these elements are governed through enterprise risk, compliance and performance frameworks, ensuring social impact are coordinated and systematically embedded into decision-making, capital allocation and day-to-day business activities at Westpac.

Flashpoint Labs

Australian School of Entrepreneurship

UNSW

UNSW’s Progress for All Strategy guides its approach to social performance, with a goal of creating positive and lasting impact for people, communities and society. The university recognises its responsibility extends beyond teaching and research to how it operates, engages with communities and supports its people.

Its Sustainable Procurement Framework, endorsed by the Chief Financial Officer and University Leadership Team including the Vice-Chancellor, weighs social outcomes alongside cost, quality and risk. UNSW treats suppliers as partners in delivering social value and builds environmental, social and governance considerations into procurement and supplier engagement.

Much of this work is voluntary. UNSW uses its purchasing power to engage more social enterprises, Indigenous businesses and suppliers that demonstrate measurable social outcomes. Working with Social Traders and internal stakeholders, it has created pathways for social enterprises to compete for university business while maintaining robust procurement standards.

Between FY2023/24 and FY2024/25, UNSW lifted spend with certified social enterprises from $549,000 to $1.35 million, a 146% increase. Awareness of social enterprise capability has grown across the university, and more procurement decisions now consider social value.

The procurement team works directly with business stakeholders to find opportunities for social enterprises. It structures projects to lower barriers for small and medium enterprises and encourages staff to choose social impact options for everyday purchases. A Modern Slavery Program covers supply chain risk assessment, due diligence and annual reporting. Voluntary work extends to responsible sourcing, staff training and supplier engagement on labour rights and worker wellbeing.

UNSW measures success by the social outcomes its spend generates, not the dollar figure alone. It is now exploring spend targets to grow that impact.

Fulton Hogan

Fulton Hogan’s Sustainability Strategy and Framework embed social performance nationally, giving every project a consistent approach while freeing teams to go beyond compliance. Social procurement sits within the systems that run its tenders, subcontracting and purchasing. Regional targets feed into business planning, and the Board and Executive review performance every month.

Procurement, sustainability and project teams work together to identify suitable suppliers early and turn opportunities into contracts. Fulton Hogan works with Social Traders to find opportunities, map supplier capability and support engagement.

The growth is clear. Social enterprise spend rose from $1 million with 39 suppliers in FY19 to $8.7 million with 51 social enterprises in FY25. In FY26, Fulton Hogan is on track to exceed $11.5 million with around 60 social enterprises. It ranked among Social Traders Good Buyers Top 10 spenders in both FY24 and FY25.

Opportunity Briefings give smaller social enterprises one-on-one time with Fulton Hogan teams, and a Business Showcase Video Series promotes their achievements across the company and the construction industry. A cross-business First Nations Procurement Working Group brings the regions together to plan and engage. In FY25, Fulton Hogan also spent $77 million with 200 First Nations suppliers and $3 million with Australian registered charities.

Next, Fulton Hogan plans to work with the Social Traders Co-Design Unit to strengthen national measurement of project-level outcomes and longer-term community value.

Social Traders will announce the winner at Convene 2026 in Brisbane on 20 October. One of Australia’s largest social impact conferences, Convene brings 300 participants together for the day to shape best practice social value and show how it builds competitive advantage in business.

Navaroo

The businesses setting the standard for social performance

Westpac

UNSW

Fulton Hogan

You might also like