Employers must provide a copy of their Executive Summary(ies) to their governing body as soon as reasonably practicable after downloading it. The Executive Summary is available to generate and download from the Employer Portal once all reporting documents have been completed with no data anomalies.
For instructions on how to generate and download the Executive Summary, please see Document generation.
What is the Executive Summary?
The Executive Summary provides key insights from the lodged Gender Equality Report, including gender pay gap data and information on workforce composition. It summarises outcomes against the 6 gender equality indicators (GEIs) and is available immediately after lodgement in the Employer Portal. An Executive Summary can be generated for any organisation (with an individual ABN) that reports 80 or more employees in their Workplace Profile.
Corporate groups
Corporate groups receive a condensed version of the Executive Summary, which includes key gender pay gap and workforce composition data for all ABNs in the group. As noted above, a standard Executive Summary is also available for all ABNs within the corporate structure that report 80 or more employees in their Workplace Profile.
The Executive Summary can be used to:
- identify areas for improvement in gender equality
- inform workplace policies and strategy
- support internal discussions on workforce gender balance and pay equity.
Requirement for the CEO to share the Executive Summary with the employer’s governing body
Under the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012, employers are required to share information with their governing body. Please refer to Notification and access requirements for more information.
To meet this requirement:
- Employers must generate and download their Executive Summary(ies).
- Employers must review the document(s). If you have any questions about the gender pay gap, refer to WGEA’s six actions to take to check your GPG guide.
- Employers must provide the Executive Summary(ies) to the CEO or equivalent, who must share them with the employer’s governing body.
- If applicable, the corporate group Executive Summary can be used instead of or alongside the ABN-level reports.
- Confirm compliance: before employers lodge their subsequent Gender Equality Report, they must declare that the Executive Summary(ies) have been shared and the legislative requirements have been met.
Note: The requirement applies regardless of the governing body’s location (which can be outside Australia).
Frequently asked questions
Do we need to share the Executive Summary and the Industry Benchmark Report at the same time?
No, you do not need to share your Executive Summary(ies) and Industry Benchmark Report(s) at the same time. They must be shared as soon as reasonably practicable.
However, if the Industry Benchmark Report is available, and the Executive Summary has not yet been shared, both documents must be provided together.
Do we provide the Executive Summary and Industry Benchmark Report as is?
Yes. These documents cannot be edited.
Do we need to provide evidence of sharing with the governing body?
Yes. Employers must declare in the Questionnaire for the following reporting period that the documents have been provided to the governing body. We will verify if they have been generated when assessing whether you have met your reporting compliance requirements.
What if the governing body is not in Australia?
The Executive Summary and Industry Benchmark Report must be shared with the governing body, regardless of its location.
How do I generate my Executive Summary for the previous reporting period?
Documents for specific gender reporting programs must be generated at the time of lodgement. The Executive Summary is available immediately after lodgement of the Gender Equality Report. The ES, and other documents and reports, remain available in the Employer Portal for generation until two weeks before the next lodgement period opens. After the lodgement period begins, documents and reports from the previous reporting cycle can no longer be generated in our system.
The lodgement period runs from 1 April to 31 May. For further information on key dates, please refer to Reporting dates.