Relevant employers, as defined under the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 (the Act), must register with the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) and lodge an annual Gender Equality Report. Once registered, employers are automatically enrolled in future reporting programs.
Who is a relevant employer?
Relevant employers are:
- Any employer with 100 or more employees in Australia
- Any employer that expects to employ 100 or more employees for any period totalling 6 months or more within a reporting period
- Any employer with 80 or more employees, if they have lodged a report previously
A relevant employer can be:
- a standalone organisation (single ABN)
- a corporate group with 100 or more employees in total across all employing ABNs (subsidiaries)
- A subsidiary with 100 or more employees
- For further information about corporate groups and their subsidiaries, refer to Corporate Structures.
Relevant employers include:
- Registered higher education providers
- A commonwealth company or commonwealth entity
- Australian public companies or not for profits
Not registered to report with WGEA?
Relevant employers reporting to WGEA for the first time must register to report.
For further information and instructions, refer to Register to report.
Counting employees
The eligibility for relevant employer status is determined by the total employee count either within the organisation or across a corporate group.
Employers must count all employees In Australia who are:
- full-time,
- part-time,
- casual, and
- on a fixed term contract.
Employers should not count employees who are:
- independent contractors who are self-employed, and
- employees from a recruitment agency placed in your organisation.
Has your employee count fallen below 80?
If an employer previously reported to WGEA and their total employee count has fallen below 80 for 6 months of the reporting period, the employer:
- may no longer meet the definition of relevant employer
- may no longer be required to report to WGEA
- must notify WGEA about the changes to their employee count.
Employee count based on organisation structure:
- a standalone organisation (single ABN) and their employee count falls below 80 employees, for 6 or more months of a reporting period.
- a corporate group and the total number of employees (within the parent organisation and subsidiaries) falls below 80 employees in total, for 6 or more months of a reporting period.
For further information and instructions, refer to Maintaining your organisation's details.