Australia’s best workplace for 2026 has been revealed

Australia has apparently found one workplace where employees won’t be muttering that familiar line under their breath: should’ve gone to Specsavers.

As it turns out, they did.

Specsavers has been named Australia’s Best Workplace for 2026, ranking first nationally in the large business category.

The Great Place to Work recognition was based on confidential feedback from more than 7,700 Specsavers support office and store team members across Australia and New Zealand, representing 78% of its workforce.

The result comes from a much larger field. This year’s Best Workplaces study gathered feedback from more than 150,000 Australian employees across organisations of different sizes and industries.

Staff feedback behind ranking

Specsavers managing director ANZ Paul Bott said the result reflected feedback from employees across the business, with the company using those responses to shape its workplace policies and practices.

“This achievement belongs to our people,” Bott said.

He said feedback from support office and store employees had helped Specsavers improve retention, with the company focused on keeping staff, developing careers and building its training programs.

Bott said that retention also had a flow-on effect for customers.

“When people choose to stay, grow and build their careers with us, our patients benefit too,” he said.

Specsavers has also been voted Australia’s Most Trusted Optometrists for seven consecutive years and was recently named Australia’s number one brand for customer experience in the KPMG Customer Experience Excellence Report.

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Focus on retention and development

Specsavers said its workplace programs include leadership development, clinical learning pathways, wellbeing programs and inclusive workplace practices aimed at supporting long-term career growth.

People director ANZ Karen Clancy said employee feedback remained central to the company’s approach.

“Our people are at the heart of every decision we make,” she said.

“Reaching the top spot is a fantastic achievement, but what matters most is creating an environment where our teams feel supported, valued and able to do their best work. Although we’ve been awarded Australia’s Best Workplace™, we will continue to listen, learn and grow, always prioritising our patients and our workforce.”

“Thank you to every support office and store team member who continues to share their voice and help make Specsavers a great place to work,” she said.

The Great Place to Work Best Workplaces list is primarily determined through confidential employee feedback, alongside an independent assessment of workplace culture and people practices.