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The winners of the 2025 Southern Cross Health Insurance Wayfinder Awards were announced today, March 20, at a ceremony in Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland.

Taking home gold across the six categories in recognition of achievements by individuals and organisations, were Waikato-Tainui, ASB, ORIX New Zealand, Netsafe, Jen Southan (ORIX NZ) and Dominic Quin (Foodstuffs).

The Southern Cross Health Insurance Wayfinder Awards encourage businesses to innovate in workplace wellbeing, driving employee engagement and business success, and to celebrate those who have made wellbeing central to their strategy and part of their organisation’s culture.

Nick Astwick, CEO Southern Cross Health Insurance says, “Our 2024 Healthy Futures report confirmed that 89% of people agree they, and the businesses they work for, would flourish if employers made workplace health and wellbeing a priority. The Wayfinder Awards acknowledge those organisations which have made the concerted decision to put their people’s wellbeing front and centre, and are therefore reaping the benefits of their innovation and commitment.

“To hear their stories and see the increased productivity, reduced turnover and high levels of engagement, particularly against a tough operating environment, was truly inspiring for me and the panel of expert judges who helped determine our winners for 2025.”

Three of the awards – Small Business, Medium Business and Large Business – celebrate companies which have woven workplace wellbeing into their core strategy.

Netsafe won gold in the Small Business Award category. Dr Ellen Joan Ford said, “One of the things that really stood out was where businesses offered flexibility as part of their wellbeing initiatives. I am a firm believer in flexibility and think this is the way of the future – we should be focusing on outputs not hours. (Netsafe) has Super impressive employee engagement scores and I love their ‘Flexible First’ work policy.

The gold Medium Business Award went to ORIX NZ, with judge Rob Holmes from PaperKite saying, “ORIX balances fiscal priorities with holistic wellbeing, and has created a workplace where employees feel valued and can thrive.”

ASB was awarded gold for the Large Business Award, with Dr Quinlan noting, “ASB is leading the way for other large organisations in New Zealand, setting new standards for employee care and benefits. Aligning benefits with their people promise, they have listened and designed the benefits that meet their people's needs. It's a carefully considered approach that employees are already appreciating.”

Waikato-Tainui is the recipient of the gold New Horizon award which focuses on innovation in workplace wellbeing. The iwi is committed to addressing the unique health challenges faced by kaumaatua, who are disproportionately affected by health issues and struggle to access healthcare.

Judge Melanie Beirne (Ngāi Tahu) said, “This initiative (from Waikato-Tainui) taps into the powerful influence and potential of iwi, creating a direct pathway to connect with hard-to-reach, under-served communities. By removing cost barriers, it opens up access to health, well-being, and financial stability. Its innovative approach is not just transforming lives of kaumaatua — it’s setting a new way of working and standard that has the potential to inspire other iwi to follow suit. If adopted, the ripple effect of this change has the potential to uplift communities across Aotearoa.”

The first of the individual awards was won by Jen Southan of ORIX NZ. The Star Wayfarer Award recognises someone who has made a tangible difference and impact to wellbeing within the workplace. Rob Holmes said, “Jen’s relentless passion for wellbeing has inspired transformative change at ORIX, creating an inclusive culture where employees feel supported and valued.”

The True North Award acknowledges a people-leader who has made an outstanding contribution to the wellbeing of their team. Recipient Dominic (Dom) Quin of Foodstuffs NZ was acknowledged as exceptional by his team and the judges, in fact Dr Denise Quinlan said, “can we clone this leader?”.

Nick Astwick concurred, saying “Dom deeply believes "anyone can be a leader" and he coaches and inspires his team to engage in courageous conversations. He shifted the team from an outcomes-led business to a human led business with stunning results. A truly high performing leader.”

Reflecting on the Southern Cross Health Insurance Wayfinder Awards, Astwick was struck by one key theme which stood out for most successful entries.

“The health and wellbeing needs of people change with age, stage and personal situations. One of the innovations this year was a focus on personalising health and wellbeing programmes to ensure they are relevant for all.

“Our purpose at Southern Cross Health Insurance is to empower our members to live well for longer. More than half of our members are with us through group schemes offered by organisations which understand that good health is good for business. It is so heartening, even as many businesses, even ours, have faced so many economic headwinds that leading New Zealand companies of all shapes and sizes are investing in their people’s wellbeing and taking people’s circumstances into account,” said Astwick.

He added, “We’d like to acknowledge all the entries we received from across New Zealand and whakamihi/congratulate our gold, silver and bronze winners. You are leading the way for business in Aotearoa.”

The strong line-up of health industry and business leaders who joined Nick Astwick, on the Wayfinder Awards judging panel, included:

• Dr Denise Quinlan, MAPP, PhD – Director of the NZ Institute of Wellbeing & Resilience
• Dr Ellen Joan Ford, MBA, PhD – Award winning Leader, Military Veteran, International Speaker and Facilitator
• Melanie Beirne (Ngāi Tahu) – Gallup certified coach, Entrepreneur, Leader, Facilitator, and Māmā of two
• Rob Holmes, Discovery Director, PaperKite and an inaugural winner of the 2023 Wayfinder True North Award

The 2025 Southern Cross Health Insurance Wayfinder Awards winners are:

Star Wayfarer Award

• Gold – Jen Southan, ORIX NZ
• Silver – Tracey Chaplin, Ceres New Zealand LLC
• Bronze – Corrina McIndoe, Spectrum Consulting Limited and Caley Staveley, Outerdawn

True North Award*

• Gold – Dominic Quin, Foodstuffs NZ
• Silver – Lorraine Bryant, Spectrum Consulting Ltd

Small Business Award

• Gold – Netsafe NZ
• Silver – Ceres New Zealand LLC
• Bronze – Content & Co NZ Ltd

Medium Business Award

• Gold – ORIX NZ
• Silver – SBS Bank
• Bronze – StraitNZ

Large Business Award

• Gold – ASB
• Silver – Foodstuffs North Island / NZ
• Bronze – Douglas

New Horizon Award

• Gold – Waikato-Tainui
• Silver – Te Wānanga o Aotearoa - Tau Ora
• Bronze – Eliot Sinclair

For more information on the 2025 Southern Cross Health Insurance Wayfinder Awards

For a copy of the Healthy Futures Report

*Bronze was not awarded for this category in 2025