Finance firms have dominated a new list of Australia’s top companies for supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people at work.

The ranking was put together by Pride in Diversity – a not-for-profit workplace program that helps Australian employers with the inclusion LGBTI employees.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (Pwc) came out on top for the second time.

"Not only is inclusiveness the right thing to do, as it encourages people to engage, respect and contribute to the organisation they are working for, it is a sound business decision as diversity leads to innovation, which leads to growth,” says PwC’s chief of staff James Collins.

“We are delighted to be recognised for having strong policies on how to encourage and support our LGBTI employees as well as recognition for being a bold supporter of LGBTI issues in society, such as supporting marriage equality.”

The rankings were based on Pride in Diversity’s Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI), which looks at LGBTI inclusiveness in offices across the country.

Another major winner also from the banking sector was ANZ, which took out a prize for its GAYTMs.

Key Assets won an award of LGTBI inclusiveness for small employers, while the Australian Red Cross Blood Collection was ranked best not-for-profit/charity.

“While many employees feel comfortable to be themselves at work, let’s not lose sight of the fact that many more do not,” said Michael Kirby AC, one of the award presenters at the event.

“Where we stand today is still not good enough. The more inclusive your workplace culture, the more likely people will be to engage, respect and contribute to the organisation they are working for.”

Pride in Diversity says the top 20 Australian employers for LGBTI people are:

1. PwC
2. Westpac Group
3. Curtin University
4. Commonwealth Bank of Australia
5. Goldman Sachs
6. ANZ
7. Macquarie Bank
8. Lend Lease
9. National Australia Bank
10. The University of Western Australia
11. IBM
12. EY
13. Australian Red Cross Blood Service
14. Accenture
14. Allens
16. UnitingCare Ageing NSW.ACT
17. Australian Federal Police
17. Department of Defence
19. Herbert Smith Freehills
20. Telstra