Under the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 (the Act), private sector and Commonwealth public sector employers with 100 or more employees must lodge gender equality data each year under a single reporting program named Gender Equality Reporting.
Program and Lodgement Period
The lodgement period for all employers is from 1 April to 31 May.
Who Must Report
All private sector employers and Commonwealth public sector employers with 100 or more employees must report their data during this period.
Reporting overview
Registered relevant employers are enrolled in a Gender Equality Reporting program and must lodge data about their organisation to WGEA annually. Reports are prepared and lodged within the WGEA Employer Portal
If your organisation meets the eligibility requirement and has not previously reported to WGEA, you must first register to report.
The Gender Equality Report consist of:
- Questionnaire: This is an online survey where employers answer questions about organisation policies, strategies, and actions to support gender equality.
- Workplace Profile (WPP): This is an Excel worksheet where workforce details are listed — including who works there, their base pay, and total annual earnings.
- Workforce Management Statistics (WMS): This is another Excel worksheet that tracks employee movements over the past year, like who joined, left, or changed roles.
Employer obligations under the Act
Employers have important obligations under the Act to help ensure transparency and progress toward gender equality in Australian workplaces:
Annual Reporting
Employers must:
- Prepare and lodge a Gender Equality Report each year by the lodgement deadline.
- Include all required data and have the report approved by the CEO (or equivalent).
- Declare whether the report contains any personal information.
- Ensure all information lodged is accurate and not misleading.
After lodging the report
Employers are required to:
- Notify employees, shareholders, members, and relevant employee organisations that the report has been lodged.
- Make the report available to these groups (excluding any confidential information).
- Let employees and employee organisations know they can provide feedback on the report to the employer or WGEA.
Sharing WGEA reports
- The CEO (or equivalent) must share the Executive Summary and Industry Benchmark Report (provided by WGEA) with the organisation’s governing body, if there is one.
For large employers (directly employing 500+ employees)
- Comply with the gender equality standards.
- Provide any information requested by WGEA about compliance or performance against Gender Equality Standards.
- Select and achieve or demonstrate improvement against gender equality targets.
Stay informed
It is the employer’s responsibility to understand and meet all obligations under the Act. WGEA monitors compliance and may request additional information from time to time.
Legislative framework
The Act establishes WGEA as a statutory agency and outlines its functions. Together with the below legislative instruments, the Act also details requirements for employers to annually provide information to WGEA on matters relating to the 6 Gender Equality Indicators (GEIs).
- The Workplace Gender Equality (Gender Equality Standards) Instrument 2023 specifies the 6 GEIs. It also outlines the requirement for employers who directly employ 500 or more employees to have policies or strategies in place to support each of the GEIs.
- The Workplace Gender Equality (Matters in relation to Gender Equality Indicators) Instrument 2023 sets out the matters relating to the 6 GEIs. WGEA asks employers to provide information on these matters in their annual Gender Equality Reports.
- The Workplace Gender Equality (Gender Equality Targets) Instrument 2025 requires employers who directly employ 500 or more employees to select and meet or demonstrate improvement against 3 gender equality targets. Employers select these targets from a menu of numeric and action targets, and they have 3 years to meet or demonstrate improvement against their selected targets.