Private sector employer reporting
The WGEA compliance reporting program is one of three programs in the WGEA Portal. It is a mandatory program for all non-public sector ‘relevant employers’ under the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 (the Act).
By submitting your report, you’re not only meeting your compliance obligations, but contributing to the Agency’s world-leading dataset on gender equality in Australian workplaces. The process can also help you identify gender equality issues and put action plans in place.
Note this reporting program is different to the new Public Sector reporting. For information on public sector reporting check out this step-by-step public sector reporting guide.
For an overview of how to complete and submit your report to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, please watch this information video. It will introduce key concepts and components of the Agency’s annual reporting program.
When to report
Each year, the WGEA Portal opens on 1 April for reporting. Organisations then have two months to submit their reports, with reports due on 31 May.
Reports cover the preceding 12-month reporting period. The reporting period is the same each year, from 1 April (the previous year) to 31 March (the current year).
- The Questionnaire and Workforce Management Statistics reflect the entire reporting period.
- The Workplace Profile is completed by selecting a snapshot date within the reporting period.
Who needs to report
The Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 requires non-public sector employers with 100 or more employees to submit a report to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. This includes:
- standalone organisations with 100 or more employees
- corporate structures with 100 or more employees across all entities.
Organisations register for reporting if they:
- are not a public sector (i.e. government) employer AND
- have employed in total 100 or more employees for 6 months or more of a reporting period (these months do not need to be consecutive) OR
- expect to have 100 or more employees and your organisation will stay at or above 100 employees for 6 months or more within a reporting period.
For example, Organisation XY should select yes because they had a total employee count of:
- 60 from April to June 2019 (3 months)
- 110 from July to January 2019 (6 months)
- 90 from January to March 2020 (3 months).
There are also special considerations for organisations whose employee count dropped below 100 since last reporting to the Agency, and organisations who are in receivership or liquidation.
Who is included in the 100 employee headcount?
All the following employees must be counted when determining whether you meet the requirement to report:
- full-time employees
- part-time employees
- casual employees
- temporary (fixed-term) employees.
Individual employees must be counted; do not use full-time equivalent calculations.
The following employees should not be counted:
- independent contractors (i.e. those not employed by the organisation or group)
- employees of a labour hire or recruitment organisations who have been assigned to work in your organisation.
If you are currently a relevant employer, but your employee total drops below 100, you must keep reporting until:
- The total falls below 80 employees for six months (these months do not have to be consecutive) during a given reporting period
- The entire group, if you are reporting on behalf of a corporate structure, falls below 80 employees.
Once your employee numbers have fallen below 80 for six or more months, please advise the Agency by lodging a support request. Once this is confirmed by the Agency, you will be notified in writing.
Tendering for government contracts
Organisations tendering for government contracts may need to satisfy a requirement to be compliant with the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012.
- For organisations that have reported your compliance letter fulfils this requirement.
- For non-public sector organisations with 100 or more employees who are not registered with the Agency you will need to register to be issued with a letter stating that you are compliant.
- For organisations that are not required to report as they have less than 100 employees across their entire structure, please complete the registration form on the login page of the WGEA Portal. The Agency will use the details provided in the registration form to issue your organisation with a tender letter.
Steps for reporting
1. Register your organisation if you have not done so previously
Visit the WGEA Portal and then click on Register.
2. Log in through Digital Identity
When you first arrive at the WGEA Portal, you will notice that you need to login through the Australian Government Digital Identity System. Through this system, you will continue to use your myGovID to connect to the WGEA Portal.
If your organisation does not already have one, you will need to apply for a Digital Identity (such as myGovID). Visit https://www.digitalidentity.gov.au/ to set up your credential.
3. Make sure your details are up to date
Review and update your organisation and contact details recorded with WGEA in the ‘Organisation’ tab of the Portal before you begin. For items you are unable to change please lodge a support request.
4. Open your report
Select the program (e.g. click 2022-2023 Gender Equality Reporting) on the Portal homepage or under the 'Programs' tab to access your gender equality report
For corporate groups, you may be given the opportunity to either select or create a submission group (depending on the access your user account has).
5. Confirm your details to start your report
Take care to ensure that all your details are correct. If details change after you start the other sections you will need to contact the Agency for support.
6. Complete the Reporting Questionnaire section
The Reporting Questionnaire is an online survey related to your organisation’s policies, strategies, and actions on gender equality.
7. Complete the Workforce Management Statistics section
The Workforce Management Statistics is an Excel worksheet designed to collect information about your employee movements over the course of the reporting period.
Each ABN within a submission group requires its own separate Workforce Management Statistics upload covering its employees.
8. Complete the Workplace Profile section
The Workplace Profile is an Excel worksheet designed to collect information about workforce composition, salaries, and remuneration There are two types of WPP worksheet to choose between:
- Unit level - the default template suitable for everyone. Manual calculations are required to convert employee’s salary/remuneration to an annualised and full-time equivalent standard.
- STP - for advanced users or payroll specialists. Automatic calculations but more complex data entry required.
We strongly recommend that you use the Unit level file in the first instance.
9. Fix any data anomalies
Resolve any potential issues (data anomalies) on your uploaded files that are identified after the platform completes its automatic data check.
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If you receive an email advising that there are data anomalies in your uploaded file(s) you will need to return to the page where you uploaded the file to review and resolve them.
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Select the ‘issues found’ link in the upload table which will take you to the page where you can address each issue.
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If the upload table shows that your file has been ‘rejected’, correct your file and re-upload it.
Please note that to ensure that the data you are submitting can be used and benchmarked against other participants you will need to resolve any data anomalies detected on your uploaded files.
10. Generate your report documents for review
The following documents generate as pdfs which can be accessed in the 'Data and Insights' tab of the Portal, under 'Reports':
- Questionnaire – a version that does not contain voluntary questions and answers and a version which does contain voluntary questions and answers
- Workforce management statistics table
- Workplace Profile table (composition data) - this does not include salary/remuneration details
- Workplace Profile table (salary/remuneration averages)
- Reporting Overview – a summary of your report with gender pay gap information
You can edit your submission and regenerate your reports at any time before you submit.
11. Obtain CEO approval
Have your CEO or equivalent review and approve your report documents, you must ensure they are aware of, and have approved, the submission to WGEA of your organisations reporting data.
- When approval to submit has been provided (verbally or written) you can return to the Portal and check the declaration and consent boxes that indicate approval was sought and provided.
- You can keep an internal record of this approval using the submission approval form – this form can be downloaded from the list of reports in the 'Data and Insights' tab under 'Reports'.
12. Complete Declarations & Consents, and click ‘Submit’
Once you have resolved any data anomalies and your CEO or equivalent has approved the submission, you will need to complete the declarations and consents section of the Portal. To enable the final lodgement of your data you will need to confirm:
- That your CEO or equivalent has approved the submission
- That your report does not contain any personal information (as defined by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)) – for example, identifying information provided in the free text area of the questionnaire.
- Alternatively, if you report contains personal information, you must specify this in the space provided.
When the two mandatory declarations/consents have been completed, you can then click on the 'submit' button to officially lodge your Gender Equality Report.
You have 28 days after the date of submission to make any edits or updates to your report.
12. Download, share and analyse your report
Once you have completed your report, ensure that your organisation complies with the notifications and access requirements.
Later in the year Industry Benchmark Reports become available for download. They compare your submission groups gender pay gaps by industry against de-identified peers.
Offline templates
Note: these templates are for offline preparation ONLY. They may be subject to minor changes up until 1 April 2023.
Updated: 28 February 2023
Below are the templates for the 2023 submission period (1 April to 31 May 2023).
- Choose one type of workplace profile to complete – we recommend you use the unit level file in the first instance as it is the default file for all users.
- If your organisation is a partnership (with equity and non-equity partners) use the partnerships workforce management statistics sheet.
More information
The WGEA guide to public sector reporting include who needs to report, how and when to do it.
Log into the WGEA reporting portal to begin your gender equality reporting
The WGEA Knowledge Hub contains everything you need to navigate the reporting and EOCGE application process.