WGEA Privacy Policy

The WGEA privacy policy outlines how the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) handles your personal information.

You can download the full version of this policy including the details of all amendments below. 

1.1 About this policy

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) is subject to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

This Privacy Policy explains how WGEA handles personal information. It broadly covers personal information relating to: 

• employees of organisations that provide data to WGEA under the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 (Cth), or provide data voluntarily
• current, former and prospective WGEA employees and contractors
• our contracted service providers and their staff (including consultants, suppliers and vendors)
• people who interact with WGEA's staff and our website, online services or social media accounts
• subscribers to WGEA newsletters, mailing lists and other communications
• people who register for or attend WGEA events
• WGEA stakeholders, including contacts from industry associations, not-for-profit organisations, partners and media outlets.

This policy may be updated from time to time. Any changes will be published on WGEA’s website.

1.2 Interpretation

In this Privacy Policy:

• we, us and our refer to WGEA;
• personal information has the meaning given in the Privacy Act; information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable: (a) whether the information or opinion is true or not; and (b) whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.
• individual is a natural, living person;
• sensitive information has the meaning given in the Privacy Act, and covers the following information:
  • information or opinion about an individual's:
    1. racial or ethnic origin
    2. political opinions
    3. membership of a political association
    4. religious beliefs or affiliations
    5. philosophical beliefs
    6. membership of a professional or trade association
    7. membership of a trade union
    8. sexual orientation or practices; or
    9. criminal record

that is also personal information; or

• health information about an individual
• genetic information about an individual that is not otherwise health information
• biometric information that is to be used for the purpose of automated biometric verification or
• biometric identification; or
• biometric templates.
• de-identified information is information from which an individual is not identified or reasonably identifiable, such that it is not (or no longer) considered personal information.

1.3 Why we collect, use and disclose personal information

We collect personal information when it is reasonably necessary, or directly related to WGEA's functions and activities. This may include sensitive information, which we only collect with your consent or as allowed under the Privacy Act and APPs.

The way we collect, use and disclose personal information depends on how we interact with individuals and the public. We may use it to:

• carry out our responsibilities under the WGE Act
• support community and stakeholder engagement, including sharing updates (e.g. newsletters) and hosting webinars, masterclasses and other events
• enabling access to and improve performance of our website and online services
• respond to communications, enquiries and complaints
• manage HR functions like recruitment, payroll and other employment-related activities
• work with third-party service providers
• handle routine business tasks such as financial and expense management
• meet regulatory and legal requirements.

We only use and disclose your personal information for the primary reason we collected it.

In some cases, we may use or disclose it for another purpose if:

• you have given your consent
• it is required or allowed under Australian law (including the WGE Act), or by a court or tribunal order
• it is otherwise authorised under the Privacy Act and APPs.

2.1 What we collect

The types of personal information we collect and hold depend on the situation and why we need it. This may include the following:

• names, telephone numbers, email addresses, job titles and organisation details of reporting contacts, Chief Executive Officers and Agency Heads (or equivalent) of employers required to report to WGEA under the WGE Act
• contact details of WGEA stakeholders, including people from industry associations, not-for-profit organisations, partners, newsletter subscribers and media contacts
• names and contact details for individuals who subscribe to our newsletters or other communications, or register for WGEA’s webinars or events
• information about WGEA employees and contractors for HR and payroll purposes - this may include contact details and payment information, recruitment records and work, health and safety matters
• details provided by job applicants
• information about tenderers, consultants and other suppliers (or potential suppliers) of goods and services to WGEA.

We also collect employee data from relevant employers. This may include an employee’s gender, occupational category, manager category, employment status, postcode, year of birth, type of employment, base salary and total remuneration. This data is collected in a de-identified form. WGEA has protocols in place to reduce the risk of re-identifying individuals when publishing or sharing information. These protocols include:

• aggregation: for example, we only report data on non-binary employees at the national level to protect privacy

• rounding: we round numbers like average salary to the nearest thousand dollars to hide exact amounts

• cell suppression: we suppress data in cells where the number of contributors is below a certain threshold.

2.2 How we collect personal information

We may collect personal information about you in several ways, including: 

• directly from you when you interact with us - for example in person, by phone, through forms and emails, or when using WGEA's website, social media or online services
• from relevant public sector commissions, if you work in the public sector
• from current or former employers
• from referees
• from publicly available sources.

We also track how the WGEA Employer Portal is used. This includes:

• login dates and times
• data file uploads
• changes made to entered data
• support requests and related contact events
• information that helps us resolve support requests.

2.3 Use of our website, online portals and social media

When you use our website and online services:

• Our servers automatically record information sent by your browser. This includes your internet protocol (IP) address, domain name (like .com, .gov, .au), the date and time of your visit, pages and documents accessed, the site you came from, your browser type and language, and cookies that may identify your browser
• We use Google Analytics to understand how people use our website. Google Analytics uses cookies and JavaScript code to track things like how your found our site (for example through a search engine, social media or a link) This information including your IP address is sent to Google's servers in the United States. Google uses it to create reports and provide other services related to website activity and internet use.

You can turn off cookies in your browser settings, but this may affect how our website works. You can also opt out of Google Analytics by using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

We use the information we collect to improve our website and online services.

2.4 Social media platforms

We use the social media platforms LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube to share information about our work.

If you contact us through these platforms, we may collect personal information that is publicly available on your profile to help us respond to you and engage with the public.

These platforms also collect and handle your personal information. We recommend reviewing their privacy policies to understand how your data is handled.

2.5 Links to third party websites

Our website includes links to other websites operated by third parties. We are not responsible for the content and privacy practices of these sites. We encourage you to read each website’s privacy policy separately.

We only disclose personal information to third parties (including other government departments) in specific situations:

• when you are likely to know, or have been told, that your personal information is usually shared with those parties
• when you have given your consent
• when we believe it is necessary to prevent a serious and immediate threat to your life or health, or someone else's
• when the law requires or allows us to share it
• when it is needed to enforce criminal law, apply a financial penalty, or protect public revenue.

3.1 Disclosures to third parties

WGEA may disclose personal information to third parties in accordance with the Privacy Act. Third parties include:

• Government agencies. For example, de-identified data may be shared with other government agencies for the purposes of their relevant functions. Requests from other agencies are most commonly for additional groupings of attributes, like salary and postcode, that we publish in high-level aggregates. We apply the protections against re-identification noted above before fulfilling these requests.
• Research bodies and organisations. For example, we may provide de-aggregated remuneration data to organisations who have a written agreement with WGEA to conduct research for or with us. In such cases, we still have protocols to ensure that no individual employee can be identified.

WGEA is required to publish certain data reported by employers in accordance with the WGE Act. We will only publish data (including employer-specific data) in a de-identified, aggregated form.

3.2 Overseas disclosures

We do not share personal information with people or organisations overseas.

We take the storage and security of personal and sensitive information very seriously. We have strict controls in place to protect the data we hold.

WGEA holds personal information in both electronic systems and paper records. We use a range of security measures - like IT protections and restricted physical access to our office and files - to keep this information safe from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

Information in the WGEA Employer Portal is protected by a multi-tenant security model. This means personal or sensitive information from one login (user, organisation, reporting customer or subsidiary) can't be seen by another.

We also take contractual measures to ensure our contracted service providers comply with privacy obligations.

When personal information is no longer needed, WGEA either securely destroys or deletes it, or transfers it to the National Archives of Australia (NAA), as required by the Archives Act 1983 (Cth).

4.1 Accessing and correcting personal information

If you want to access or correct your personal information, please contact us using the details below. We will respond to your request within 30 calendar days.

If we decide not to give you access or make changes to your personal information, we will explain why in writing.

You can also use the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) to request access to and correction of your personal information, and other documents we hold. To learn more about making a Freedom of Information request to WGEA, visit Information Publication Scheme | WGEA.

4.2 Privacy Complaints

If you think we have breached your privacy, you may contact us to make a complaint. Our contact details are listed in the ‘How to contact us’ section below.

To help us understand your complaint and the outcome you are seeking, we prefer that you make your complaint in writing. You can choose to stay anonymous, but please note that it may be hard for us to look into the issue or respond properly if we do not know who you are or do not have enough details.

We take complaints seriously and aim to resolve them quickly and fairly. You will not be treated badly or unfairly for making a complaint.

If you are not happy with how we handled your complaint, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). You can find details on how to make a complaint on the OAIC website. The OAIC's contact details are below.

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner

GPO Box 5288 Sydney NSW 2001

Telephone: 1300 363 992 

Online: See online forms at Contact us | OAIC

4.3 How to contact us

If you wish to

• ask how we collect, store, use or share your personal information
• ask about this privacy policy
• request access to or correct your personal information
• make a privacy complaint

please contact us via one of the methods below. 

• Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 (WGE Act) ( https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2016C00895 )
• Privacy Act 1988 (https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2018C00034 )
• Australian Privacy Principles (APP) (https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2018C00034 )
• Freedom of Information Act 1982 ( https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2018C00016 )
• Archives Act 1983 (https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2004A02796)
• Privacy (Australian Government Agencies — Governance) APP Code 2017 (https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/F2017L01396 )

• The Workplace Gender Equality's Data Governance Framework (https://www.wgea.gov.au/about/governance/data-management-and-data-governance) 

   

The latest WGEA privacy policy details are below. Please view the PDF above for all amendment details.