News

Let the record show that on Friday, 27^th June at 1:55 pm, a crowd of almost 70 from the Melbourne giving community declared that indeed, workplace giving can save the endangered rhinoceros.

Paul Swain, Ultimate People CEO and all-around good guy, moderated the Inaugural Workplace Giving Debate. Thanks to the support of Workplace Giving partners SEEK, JB Hi-Fi and Ben & Jerry’s, the audience was treated to a first-of-its-kind business community lunch. The room was buzzing with charities and business leaders advocating for more workplace giving.

Two teams of tertiary titans, charity overachievers, and workplace giving winners challenged us with their perspectives on the debate proposition. 'Workplace Giving can never save the endangered rhinoceros'.

In the first chair for the affirmative team was Carol Corzo, Director of Culture, Capability and Talent at Victoria University. Carol argued that saving just one rhino would cost the equivalent of each current workplace giver sacrificing 38 lattes each year... can we do that, Melburnians?

Thunu Rathnayaka, President of the Dictum Society and Student Ambassador for Victoria University, kicked off for the negative team. “The humble payslip can do all the heavy lifting to save the rhino. One payslip at a time.”

Our first charity champion was the CEO of Cancer Council Victoria,  Todd Harper AM. Todd put forward the case that it can’t just be payroll giving, it needs a movement, a groundswell of advocates to agitate for greater social impact. If we consider the campaign for reducing smoking, it created real change for so many lives (human, not rhinoceros).

The Hon Kristina Kenneally, CEO of Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation, argued for ditching the pressured ask for donations at office tea breaks and truly investing in corporate relationships to build payroll giving for your charity. You’ll not only save the rhino, but you could build hospitals to look after them. Well, the sick and injured kids, as a start.

Anna Draffin, Strategic Consultant at Women in Media brought home the affirmative team’s argument. That maintaining the current level is not enough, it has to generate more donations from more businesses and engage more of the workforce to get even close to saving a rhino.

And wrapping up for the negative team was Andy Maxey, EVP & Community Impact Lead at SEEK. Here we heard that SEEK’s Small Change program is central to their employee value proposition in a competitive market, to attract the best talent and remain at number 1. SEEK’s Small Change not only adds to the culture, it also enables collective action towards making a difference. “Workplace giving can save the endangered rhinoceros!”

View the event photo gallery.

The take-home message from the stage and around the ice cream stand was clear. We want to see more businesses step up and set up payroll deductions for their workforce. We want to proliferate collective giving by encouraging donating through your pay and charities want to share the message of the incredible potential of this low-cost funding source to enable the life-saving, life-changing work they do.

Workplace Giving Australia hosted the inaugural Workplace Giving Debate to shake up the conversation about workplace generosity and ignite a movement for greater impact. By gathering a room full of businesses, charities and change-makers, WGA created a lively, thought-provoking forum to challenge the status quo and prove the power of workplace giving. The debate was about much more than saving the rhino, it was about inspiring businesses and employees to see how small, regular contributions can create big change when we work together.

Workplace Giving Australia is the leading organisation advocating for and enabling more workplace giving in Australia. If you would like advice or technical solutions for your own workplace giving program, contact us here. 

For more information about upcoming Workplace Giving Australia events, check out the 2025 activity calendar here.