Under the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 (the Act), relevant employers must comply with certain notification and access requirements after lodging a Gender Equality Report.
These requirements relate to how and when a relevant employer must share certain documents from their Gender Equality Report, and who they must be shared with.
How do you comply?
To comply with the notification and access requirements, an employer must complete the following tasks within the timeframes outlined in this table:
| Notification and access requirement | Who to share with | When to share |
|---|---|---|
|
Inform that your report has been lodged and provide access to the public reports |
Employers and Shareholders or members of the employer | As soon as practicable* after your report is lodged |
|
Inform that your report has been lodged |
Employee organisations with members in your workplace | Within 7 days of lodging your report |
|
Inform of the opportunity to comment on your public reports |
Employees and employee organisations | As soon as practicable* after your report is lodged |
|
CEO must share Executive Summary and Industry Benchmark Reports |
Governing Body (or Bodies) | As soon as reasonably practicable* after receiving them |
*’As soon as reasonably practicable' means that you must complete the requirements listed above at the first available opportunity.
Documents and reports to be shared
Once a relevant employer successfully lodges a Gender Equality Report, WGEA will provide the following documents. These documents must be generated and downloaded from the 'Data and Insights' tab of the Employer Portal.
Standalone employers (single ABN) will receive:
| Name | Covers | Available |
|---|---|---|
|
Public Report – Questionnaire |
The ABN | After lodgement |
|
Public Report – Employee data tables |
The ABN | After lodgement |
|
Executive Summary |
The ABN | After lodgement |
|
Industry Benchmark Report |
The ABN | November |
Corporate group employers will receive:
| Name | Covers | Available |
|---|---|---|
|
Public Report – Questionnaire |
All ABNs in the submission | After lodgement |
|
Public Report – Employee data tables (submission group) |
Set of 3 tables for each relevant employer ABN in the submission | After lodgement |
|
Public report – Employee data tables (group) |
Set of 3 tables which cover data from the entire corporate group | After lodgement |
|
Executive Summary |
One report for each relevant employer ABN | After lodgement |
|
Corporate Group Executive Summary |
One report covering the entire group | After lodgement |
|
Industry Benchmark Report |
One report for each relevant employer ABN (companion to the ABN level Exec Summary) | November |
For further information, refer to
- Report Generation
- Executive Summary
- Industry Benchmark Report
Inform and provide access to employees and members or shareholders
As soon as reasonably practicable after lodgement, a relevant employer must inform and provide access to the public reports to:
- the employees of the employer
- any shareholders or members of the employer
Employees
Notification to employees could occur through an organisation’s normal means of communication with employees, including employee newsletters, workplace meetings and any other appropriate existing consultative means.
Members or Shareholders
In the case of shareholders of a public company, given there may be more limited opportunities to communicate with them, notification could occur in the next available annual report and on the employer’s website.
The method used must ensure that the information concerning the organisation’s Gender Equality Report was transmitted widely to all employees.
Inform employee organisations
Within seven days after lodgement, relevant employers must take all reasonable steps to inform each employee organisation, that has members who are employees, that the report has been lodged.
This requirement does not mean an intensive effort is required by employers to identify all possible employee organisations.
Employers must notify employee organisations they could reasonably be expected to know about. This would include an employee organisation that was a party to an Enterprise Agreement or an employee organisation to which membership fees are paid by payroll deductions.
Informing of the opportunity to comment on a report
A relevant employer must inform the employees or employee organisation that comments on the report may be given to the employer or WGEA.
For further information, refer to Comment on reports.
Sharing your Executive Summary and Industry Benchmark Report with Governing Body
The CEO (or equivalent) of a relevant employer must share your Executive Summary (or Summaries) and Industry Benchmark Report(s) with your board or governing body as soon as practicable after receiving the documents.
You will need to confirm that your CEO or equivalent shared your Executive Summary and Industry Benchmark Report with your governing body when you complete your next Gender Equality Reporting Questionnaire.
- Executive Summary - is available immediately after lodging a Gender Equality Report.
- Industry Benchmark Report – is available in approximately November. Reporting contacts are notified via email when these reports are available.
When your Industry Benchmark Report is available for generation, if you have not yet provided your Executive Summary (or Summaries) to your Governing body (or Bodies) you must provide these reports together.
Corporate groups
When presenting the Executive Summary to the governing body, the corporate group version can be shared in lieu of (or in combination with) the ABN level version of the document.
For further information, refer to Executive Summary and Industry Benchmark Report.