Many employers will be accustomed to the annual gender equality reporting which has been required since 2014. However, in an effort to place greater accountability on employers for the gender equity within their organisation, there are now additional reporting requirements. The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (“WGEA”) has started publishing gender pay gaps within organisations and employers are required to have strategies and policies in place to address the gender pay gap.  

Are all employers required to have strategies and policies?  

No. Only organisations with over 500 employees (“Designated Relevant Employers”) are required to have strategies and policies.  

What strategies and policies are required? 

Designated Relevant Employers must have strategies and policies in place which address the six gender equality indicators (“GEI”). The GEI and corresponding objectives in the Workplace Gender Equality (Gender Equality Standards) Instrument 2023 (Cth) (“Instrument”) require that employers have strategies and policies in place that are: 

1. supporting gender equality in the workplace;
2. supporting and achieving gender equality in governing bodies;
3. ensuring equal remuneration between women and men;
4. providing effective flexible working arrangements for employees with family and caring responsibilities;
5. ensuring consultation with employees so they have input on gender equality issues in the workplace; and
6. preventing and responding appropriately to sexual harassment, harassment on the ground of sex or discrimination in the workplace. 

What should employers be doing? 

As a first step, it is important for organisations to determine what are their obligations. Not all employers who report annually on workplace gender equality will also be required to have strategies and policies in place to address the six GEI.  

Organisations should then take stock of the existing strategies and policies they already have in place. Employers’ existing obligations under discrimination, fair work and safety legislation will mean that existing strategies and policies may only require minor amendments to meet the requirements of the Instrument.  

After the existing workplace framework has been assessed, an organisation can then look at the gap that exists between what is required by the Instrument and the organisation’s existing strategies and policies. While the next steps will vary from one organisation to another, it is expected that an organisation will have a policy, or suite of policies, to address each of the six GEI. Other strategies and policies may include: 

• implementing strategies to minimise the risk of bias in the recruitment and selection process through standardised questions and skills-based assessments;
• providing all staff, particularly management, with bystander response training;
• improving facilities and supports available for employees with caring responsibilities;
• creating a succession plan that promotes and creates space for increased diversity; and
• using current policies, processes and remuneration levels to undertake a gender impact assessment to identify specific areas of inequality. 

Strategies and policies should be reviewed periodically to ensure they are effective in addressing the GEI and delivering gender equality in the workplace.  

While the GEI strategies and policies do not need to be provided to the WGEA, Designated Relevant Employers will be required to report on policies and strategies as part of their annual gender equality reporting. 

You can read more about the recent gender pay gap findings in our article here.