ASX in the community

ASX provides opportunities for employees to volunteer in their local community. This may be through the choice of the employee or via organised ASX volunteer days.

One of the ASX-organised volunteer days in FY19 was at the Exodus Foundation, which included preparing and serving food and beverages, creating emergency food parcels, and cleaning for disadvantaged and homeless people at the Ashfield Mission. Another, was at Hammond Care, where ASX volunteers visited dementia patients and helped with gardening, mulching and painting.

Throughout the year, ASX held a range of fundraising activities, bringing together employees from all areas of the business. The activities provide financial support for organisations aligned to the values of our employees, while also raising awareness about issues that impact on their lives. In 2019, we hosted the Biggest Morning Tea and Loud Shirt Day on behalf of the Cancer Council and the Shepherd Centre. These are two organisations that have helped our employees, their friends and families significantly.

ASX also works with a number of charity foundations and not-for-profit organisations that support a range of causes. Details of our contributions and relationships are set out below.

ASX Refinitiv Charity Foundation

The Foundation supports Australian children’s and medical research charities by organising fundraising events for financial markets participants. In FY19, over $900,000 was raised and distributed to 22 charities.

The Foundation has three ASX representatives on its ten person board. ASX volunteers the company secretariat and finance functions for the Foundation and ASX employees volunteer to assist with the fundraising activities.

Bushfire relief

We believe corporate Australia plays a critical role in supporting the significant, nationwide bushfire recovery effort. Rebuilding devastated communities, businesses, wildlife and infrastructure will require a sustained long-term commitment. To support the bushfire relief and recovery effort, ASX made a $500,000 donation to the Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund. We’re also matching donations made by ASX employees to registered charities, supporting employee fundraising activities with an ASX Giving drive, and increasing paid volunteering leave for all employees. This is in addition to a $20,000 financial donation made to the Salvation Army Disaster Relief Fund and the NSW Rural Fire Service in November 2019. 

Our thoughts remain with all of those affected by the bushfires and we’re thankful to the thousands of volunteers working to keep communities safe.

ASX proudly supports International Women’s Day, continuing its tradition of being the first exchange around the world to ‘ring the bell’ for gender equality.

Embracing the 2019 International Women's Day theme #BalanceforBetter, ASX partnered with 100 Women in Finance and invited senior female leaders in the investment management industry to share their experiences and advice with future leaders.

ASX promotes gender equality as a priority. In 2019 it was again named an Employer of Choice for Gender Equality by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA).

View more on ASX and International Women's Day

We are committed to promoting informed investing and also acknowledge its importance in supporting ASX’s business.

We provide access to free tools and resources to explain the potential rewards and risks of investing including online courses, YouTube presentations, face-to-face events around Australia and a monthly e-newsletter that has approximately 300,000 subscribers.

ASX also conducts the share market game for school students and also the general public. This helps to familiarise participants with mechanics of share trading. The game is linked to the live market – connecting players to real-world events. In FY19, there were more than 68,000 student entries and more than 42,000 entries from members of the public.