This is PwC Australia’s second firmwide Transparency Report and has been prepared based on the World Economic Forum International Business Council (WEF IBC) Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability and sustainable performance. Our disclosures focus on the four areas of Principles of Governance, People, Prosperity and Planet.
Welcome to our Transparency Report FY22
It is with pleasure that I share our FY22 Transparency Report, in which we detail our commitments and progress across these areas: Principles of Governance, People, Prosperity and Planet.
FY22 has been an incredibly successful year for PwC Australia, but also a year of continuing challenges for our people, clients and communities. COVID-19, geopolitical strains, supply chain disruption, skills and workforce shortages, inflation, energy transition complexities and the ongoing need to digitise are just a sample of the challenges and opportunities we are all faced with. These challenges and opportunities have demanded a lot from PwC and our clients’ teams.
Against this backdrop, I could not be prouder of the efforts of our partners and our wonderful team of people for the way they have served our clients and stakeholders, invested in their own and their team's growth, and looked after each other. Despite the complexities of the world today, I am optimistic for Australia. Watching our teams work side by side with our clients and communities over the past year to solve problems and deliver sustainable outcomes has been such a privilege.
The work our team has done to bring our purpose to life - to build trust in society and solve important problems - has allowed us to deliver record revenue and profit growth, make record investments in our peoples professional and personal development and work side by side with our clients to help them deliver on their own goals and aspirations.
Summary of our metrics
Our People
9,288
Employees
864
Partners
1,530
New Graduates
148
New Partner Admissions
Employee Engagement
81%
Up 5 points1
Employee Turnover
22% (Up 6%)
Employee overall attrition
Employee Gender
52%
Female
47.5%
Male
0.5%
Non-binary, gender diverse or not known
Employee Diverse Cultural Backgrounds 2
45%
(Up 12%)
Partner Gender
34%
Female
66%
Male
Partner Diverse Cultural Backgrounds 2
16%
(Up 1%)
New Partner Admissions Gender
41%
Female
59%
Male
New Partner Admissions Diverse Cultural Backgrounds 2
20%
Employee Pay Gap
<1%
Like for like by grade
7.5%
Gender
(Down 2.5%)
18%
DCB
Partner Pay Gap
<1%
Like for like by pay band
16%
Gender
(Up 3%)
21%
DCB
Learning & Development
393,461hrs
(Up 35%)
$28m
Investment
Cultural Awareness
80%
People completed First Nations cultural awareness training
Serious Misconduct Matters Tabled
31
Matters were tabled with People and Ethical Conduct Panel, of which 68% were substantiated. Up from 13 matters tabled in FY21
Revenue
$3.0b
Total
$2.6b
Australia3
17%
growth
Profit Growth
21%
Australia profit growth
Incentive Payments
Total incentive payments to employees
$75m
108%
Growth (excluding COVID-19 'thank you' payments made in FY21)
Fixed Total Remuneration Growth
Fixed total remuneration increase to employees during FY22
$75m
9%
Growth
Partner Income Growth
Taxes Paid
Social Impact Time
86,777
Social impact hours
(Up 9%)
(Up 9%)
Board Roles
666
People holding community and Not for Profit Board roles
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
6,314
tonnes CO2e
Renewable Electricity
100%
Renewable electricity in all Australian offices as part or out Net Zero commitment
References
- Results from our Global 'Mojo' survey FY22.
- Unless otherwise stated Diverse Cultural Background (DCB) refers to non-European DCB, defined as being from a non-Anglo-Celtic or non-European background. For the purposes of reporting we rely on the self-disclosure of our people.
- Revenue including PNG, excluding disbursements and other overseas entities where PwC has an equity interest.
Refer to the full report for context and the Basis of Preparation for definitions of our measures.
Principles of Governance
Our purpose informs how we manage our business in the interests of our people and stakeholders. We are committed to strong governance, oversight and accountability, with a clear tone from the top on the behaviour we expect from our people.
We seek to consistently apply the fundamental principles of objectivity, integrity and professional behaviour which underpin how we make decisions to deliver solutions and sustained outcomes.
Our highlights in FY22
We introduced The New Equation.
Increased the gender and cultural diversity of our Governance bodies collectively by 2% and 4%, respectively, to 46% female and 12% Non-European Diverse Cultural Background.
99.4% of our people completed ethics and code of conduct training.
We appointed Janette O'Neill as PwC Australia's inaugural Chief Sustainability Officer.
Effective 1 July 2022, Tracey Kennair was elected as the new Chair of our Board of Partners. Tracey is the first female in this role.
Our priorities for the coming year include continuing our Speak Up campaign which encourages our people to speak up when they see behaviours that don't align with our values and focusing on training and education around the standards of behaviour we expect. We also intend to refresh our stakeholder engagement and materiality assessment approach to inform our sustainability priorities and strategy for the year ahead.
Please see our full report for further information about our approach to governance, risk, ethics and compliance, and quality management.
People
At PwC, our people are at the core of everything we do.
We want to provide purposeful and challenging work that our people enjoy, flexibility that helps them thrive in both work and life and opportunities for genuine personal development and career growth, while continuing to build a diverse and inclusive workforce.
Our refreshed People Value Proposition, The Deal Reimagined, encompasses:
New Ways of Working
Total Reward
PwC Academy
Workplace Experience
We rely on our people to hold us accountable to our intentions and engage regularly through employee networks to continually improve.
Learn more about our culture and benefits and diversity and inclusion.
Our highlights in FY22
Launched a First Nations Cultural Leave policy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees, providing two days paid leave and up to an additional five days unpaid leave, to connect back to their community and maintain, develop and practice culture.
Launched a new parental leave coaching and support platform for all parents.
Launched our mobility program Together Anywhere that enables our people to work up to four weeks remotely in Australia or overseas in certain countries if they have working rights.
As part of our new Total Reward Strategy, increased pay transparency by publishing our pay bands and launching an Incentive Estimator tool.
Refreshed our suite of non-financial rewards based on survey feedback, including Perks@Work, our new ‘deals and discounts’ platform, and expanded our employee benefits by adding a Balanced Lifestyle Benefit of $205 to invest in activities and interests that have a positive influence on our peoples’ lives.
Launched our PwC Academy gateway offering a range of learning opportunities, including technical mastery, leadership and coaching, external certification and Career Lab.
Launched our PwC Academy Signature Experience - ‘The Outside’ event for senior associates and managers.
Leveraged PwC’s global ESG Academy to upskill our people on environmental, social and governance issues.
Hosted Let’s Connect events across our offices to bring our people together to support those all-important connections with colleagues following significant periods of lockdowns and the impact of COVID-19. Many of these events were led by our employee networks.
Our people priorities for the year ahead will be a continued focus on our People Value Proposition, building great career and development opportunities, focusing on mental health and wellbeing, our commitment to diversity and inclusion, and supporting our people to be inspiring, values-driven leaders. We will also focus on standards of behaviour and accountability to create a workplace where everyone belongs.
Please see our full report for further information on our approach to people, including ways of working, total reward, learning and development, employee engagement, diversity and inclusion, mental health and wellbeing, as well as our approach to modern slavery and human rights.
Prosperity
Growth for PwC is beneficial for our people, our clients and our communities. It enables us to deliver on our purpose and achieve sustained outcomes.
We deliver our capabilities through our three businesses, Assurance, Consulting and Financial Advisory, which are supported by our Enabling Functions.
Our Beyond strategy sets out how we lead through growth by investing in:
People at our core
World class capabilities
Impact for our clients and communities.
Our highlights in FY22
Invested in areas critical to our clients including cyber, infrastructure and energy transition.
Launched our Skilled Services Hub in Adelaide as our national onshore skills centre designed to support our clients within highly technical areas such as digital technology, cyber security and risk operations.
Continued to invest in our digital and technology assets, and expanded our data and analytics capabilities.
Continued engagement with clients and community leaders to discuss key business and social issues in Australia.
Launched thought leadership on important issues, including signature programs such as the Federal Budget, CEO Survey and Not-for-profit (NFP) CEO Survey.
Generated $13m of value through corporate sustainability time, workplace giving, donations and cash contributions.
Contributed $624m in taxes paid.
Launched our new Energy Transition business to assist our clients deliver Australia’s energy transition, and the Outsourced CFO service for charities and NFPs.
Our priorities for the coming year include a steadfast focus on our people and culture as well as continuing to build our world class capabilities to address the most complex client and societal challenges. We aim to grow through strategic investments in digital transformation, cyber, infrastructure and energy transition, and by refreshing our sustainability strategy and maintaining our ongoing alignment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
FY22 financial results
In line with our ongoing commitment to transparency, we have increased our reporting on economic performance this year.
In the year ending 30 June 2022, PwC Australia delivered total revenue of $3.0b and $2.6b (including PNG and excluding disbursements and revenue from other overseas entities where PwC Australia has an equity interest), reflecting underlying revenue growth of 17% for the Australian firm and profit growth of 21%. This profit growth enabled us to continue to invest in our firm and our people, including:
1,200 net new employees.
148 new partners.
Record incentive payments to our people of $75m, which is an increase of 108% (excluding the special COVID-19 ‘thank you’ payments made in FY21).
Increase in the fixed total remuneration of our employees during FY22 by $75m, which is an increase of 9%.
Record investment in learning and development of $28m.
PwC Australia achieved double digit growth across its three businesses, with growth coming predominantly from organic sources rather than acquisitions.
Please see our full report for further information on our financial and business performance in FY22, examples of key collaborations and our work with clients, and how we’ve contributed to the community.
Planet
We have a long-held commitment to managing our impact on the environment and supporting environmental sustainability. That is why we’ve made a worldwide commitment to reach net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, in line with a 1.5°C pathway to mitigate the most severe impacts of climate change.
Our commitment is focussed on driving progress across four pillars: operations, supply chain, clients and climate agenda. Learn more about our commitment to environmental sustainability.
Our highlights in FY22
Achieved our goal to transition to 100% renewable electricity in all of our Australian offices, in line with our global membership of RE100.
Continued certification as a Climate Active carbon neutral organisation and a selection of our people became Climate Active registered consultants to support our clients to achieve their own carbon neutral ambitions.
Achieved certification as a bronze-level Carbon Literate Organisation by the Carbon Literacy Project.
Achieved 60% growth in membership of our Green Team (from 250 members in FY21 to 400 members in FY22), which is a passionate and engaged people network focused on driving sustainable behaviour change.
Engaged some of our key suppliers in discussions about sustainability and how we could collaborate to reduce our collective emissions impact and developed a new sustainable supply chain strategy.
Launched a new Energy Transition business on 1 July 2022 to support clients in their decarbonisation journey, bringing together expertise from across the firm in one team.
As a global PwC network we joined Carbon Call, a group of leading organisations committed to developing more comprehensive and integrated carbon accounting solutions.
We’ve made progress against our net zero commitment in recent years, but there’s still more we need to do.
Our priorities for the coming year include implementing continuous improvements to our measurement and disclosure activities, managing our business travel impact through a focus on behavioural transformation, and continuing to purchase high-quality carbon credits to offset our emissions.
We will also continue to engage with suppliers on our environmental commitments; incorporate a climate lens into strategy, governance and risk decisions; and communicate with our people to build on our culture of care for our planet and natural resources.
Please see our full report for further information on our environmental commitments, including our approach to net zero and detail on our progress.
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Contact us
Janette O'Neill
Partner, Chief Sustainability Officer, PwC Australia
Tel: +61 428 691 683
