Goodman Group is Australia’s highest-ranked company on Forbes’ World’s Top Companies For Women 2026 list, one of eight local companies in the 400-strong ranking.
Key Takeaways
- Goodman Group is Australia’s highest-ranked company on Forbes’ World’s Top Companies For Women 2026 list, placing 82nd out of 400 multinational employers.
- Eight Australian-headquartered companies made the ranking, and none placed inside the top 80.
- Industrial property, construction and mining are strongly represented, with Goodman, Lendlease (No. 144) and BHP (No. 213) all ranking above Atlassian (No. 223) and Commonwealth Bank (No. 277).
- Commonwealth Bank is the only Australian bank on the list.
- Cotton On Group (No. 157) and Treasury Wine Estates (No. 163) sit in the middle of the Australian contingent, while Wesfarmers is last at No. 383.
- Microsoft retained the No. 1 spot it held in 2025, ahead of Apple, Manulife, L’Oréal and French insurer MAIF.
Key Background
Australia’s showing on the list is thin, even as the survey behind it grows.
Forbes and Statista polled about 140,000 women at multinational companies across 61 countries this year, up from approximately 120,000 women in 36 countries in 2025.
Companies only qualify if they operate in at least two continental regions, which rules out a large share of Australia’s domestically focused businesses. The ranking leans heavily on what women say about their own workplaces.
Half of each company’s score comes from employee ratings of pay, conditions, pay equity, parental leave and advancement. Another 35% reflects how women view a company on gender more broadly.
The share of women in executive and board roles counts for just 15%, so a company can rank well on the strength of how its female staff rate it, even with fewer women in senior roles.
Retention remains the pressure point for employers. Of the 43% of women who wanted to leave their jobs, 45% cited a lack of career advancement, according to Deloitte’s 2026 Women @ Work report.
Globally, Microsoft held the top spot for a second consecutive year, followed by Apple, Canadian financial services company Manulife, cosmetics giant L’Oréal and French insurer MAIF.
The full World’s Top Companies For Women 2026 list can be viewed here.
Australia’s top companies for women 2026
Global Rank | Name | Industry | Year Founded | Headquarters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Goodman Group | Business Services & Supplies | 1989 | Sydney, Australia | |
Lendlease | Construction, Chemicals, Raw Materials | 1958 | Sydney, Australia | |
Cotton On Group | Retail and Wholesale | 1991 | North Geelong, Australia | |
Treasury Wine Estates | Food, Soft Beverages, Alcohol & Tobacco | 1843 | Melbourne, Australia | |
BHP Group | Construction, Chemicals, Raw Materials | 1885 | Melbourne, Australia | |
Atlassian | IT Software & Services | 2002 | Sydney, Australia | |
Commonwealth Bank | Banking and Financial Services | 1911 | Sydney, Australia | |
Wesfarmers | Retail and Wholesale | 1914 | Perth, Australia |
The world’s top 10 companies for women 2026
Global Rank | Name | Industry | Year Founded | Headquarters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Microsoft | IT Software & Services | 1975 | Redmond, United States, Washington | |
Apple | Semiconductors, Electronics, Electrical Engineering | 1976 | Cupertino, United States, California | |
Manulife | Banking and Financial Services | 1887 | Toronto, Canada, Ontario | |
L’Oréal | Packaged Goods | 1909 | Paris, France | |
MAIF | Insurance | 1934 | Niort, France | |
Absa Group | Banking and Financial Services | 1991 | Johannesburg, South Africa | |
Desjardins | Banking and Financial Services | 1900 | Lévis, Canada, Quebec | |
Coca-Cola | Food, Soft Beverages, Alcohol & Tobacco | 1892 | Atlanta, United States, Georgia | |
Johnson & Johnson | Drugs & Biotechnology | 1886 | New Brunswick, United States, New Jersey | |
Unilever | Packaged Goods | 1929 | London, United Kingdom |
Tangent
The list arrives as employers compete to keep female talent. Deloitte’s 2026 Women @ Work report found that, of the 43% of women who wanted to leave their jobs, the most common reasons were a lack of career advancement and the chance to earn more doing the same job elsewhere.
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