Who needs to report?

Organisations that meet the definition of a relevant employer 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 included in future reporting cycles.

You must report if:

• You employ 100 or more people in Australia.
• You expect to employ 100 or more people for at least 6 months during the reporting period:
  • Private sector: 1 April to 31 March
  • Commonwealth public sector: 1 January to 31 December
• You have previously reported to WGEA and employ 80 or more people.

If you're unsure how to count your employees or whether your organisation qualifies, refer to Who is a relevant employer?
 

A relevant employer is any organisation required to report to WGEA under the Act. This includes:

Types of employers:

• Employers with 100 or more employees in Australia.
• Employers expecting to employ 100 or more employees for at least 6 months of the reporting period.
• Employers with 80 or more employees who have previously reported to WGEA.

Organisation structures:

• Standalone organisation (single ABN) with 100 or more employees.
• Corporate group with a combined total of 100 or more employees across all employing entities (parent company and subsidiaries).
• Subsidiary with 100 or more employees.

For more information on corporate groups and subsidiaries, refer to Corporate Structures.

Relevant employers include:

• Registered higher education providers
• Commonwealth companies or entities (Commonwealth public sector employer)
• Australian public companies and not-for-profit organisations

Relevant employers do not include:

• State or Territory government entities
• Organisations established under State or Territory law for a public purpose

A Designated Relevant Employer (DRE) is an employer who directly employs 500 or more employees in Australia. These employers are referred to as large employers and are subject to additional requirements under the Act.

DREs must:

• Select and meet or demonstrate improvement against gender equality targets, and
• Have policies or strategies in place to support each of the 6 gender equality indicators.

Corporate groups and DRE status

In a corporate group, any parent company or subsidiary that individually employs 500 or more employees is considered a DRE.
However, an entity is not considered a DRE if it only reaches the 500-employee threshold when combined with other entities in the group.

Ceasing to be a DRE

An employer will cease to be a DRE if:

• Their employee count falls below 400 for a continuous period of 6 months, or
• They no longer meet the definition of a relevant employer.

If you previously reported 500 or more employees per ABN and the total employee count has dropped below 400 for 6 months or more, please email targets@wgea.gov.au.

For more information, refer to:

• Gender Equality Targets
• Gender Equality Standards

If you are a relevant employer and reporting to WGEA for the first time, you must Register to report.

To determine if your organisation is a relevant employer, count all employees in Australia across your entire organisation or corporate group.

Include:

• Full-time employees
• Part-time employees
• Casual employees
• Employees on fixed-term contracts

Exclude:

• Independent contractors who are self-employed
• employees placed in your organisation by a recruitment agency

If your organisation has previously reported to WGEA and now has 80–99 employees, you are still required to report.

However, if your total employee count falls below 80, you may no longer meet the definition of a relevant employer. In this case:

• You may no longer be required to report to WGEA.
• You must notify WGEA of the change in your employee count.

How employee count is assessed:

• Standalone organisation (single ABN): If the total employee count falls below 80.
• Corporate group: If the combined total number of employees across the parent organisation and its subsidiaries falls below 80.

For more information, refer to Corporate Structures 

To notify WGEA that your employee count has fallen below 80, visit Support & contact us.