Our story

Driving productivity and equality by supporting women to return to work and thrive.

Jobs Academy is FW’s ground-breaking pre-employment program, designed to help women and gender-diverse people find clarity, build confidence, and access the support they need to secure meaningful work.

Whether you’ve been out of the workforce for a little or a long while, Jobs Academy walks alongside you – building your return-to-work toolkit, inspiring self-belief, connecting you with employers and cheering you on, every step of the way.

Jobs Academy is a year-long, virtual program that - thanks to government support, is completely free for members. The program was built with flexibility in mind. Members move through the material at their own pace, choosing what’s most useful to them and leaving the rest.

Members also join a growing community of jobseekers who understand the ups and downs of the return-to-work journey. They get access to expert advice, participate in practical workshops, benefit from mentoring and coaching, as well as unlocking a host of other practical tools and opportunities.

By partnering with employers, Jobs Academy also supports organisations to adopt more gender equal recruitment and hiring practices, and build their own return-to-work programs that benefit women who face complex barriers to work.

Jobs Academy lies at the heart of FW’s mission to close the gender gap in Australian workplaces. FW created Jobs Academy in 2020, when leaders Helen McCabe and Jamila Rizvi saw that women were being unequally impacted by job losses, early in the Covid-19 pandemic.

We’re proud that five years of Jobs Academy is making a difference. Our team has supported thousands of women, who face a variety of barriers, to return to paid work, enrol in study, and build sustainable, meaningful careers.

The benefits for the Australian economy and community are significant. Jobs Academy is driving productivity and equality, by supporting women who might otherwise be locked out of the paid workforce, to secure their economic futures.

From the very beginning, FW was created to help working women connect, learn and lead. FW is a place where big ideas, lively conversations and diverse experiences are welcomed – and where gender equality isn’t just something we value, but a strategy for building a better future.

Jobs Academy is one of the many ways FW turns that strategy into action.