Relevant employers must submit their Gender Equality Report within the report submission period (1 April - 31 May). If you are unable to submit your report by 31 May, you may apply for an extension of time.
Certificate of Compliance
To be eligible to receive a Certificate of Compliance, you must submit your fully compliant report by 31 May or within the approved extension period.
Extension timeframes
- Four weeks (30 June) - we offer an automatic four-week extension period upon application.
- More than four weeks – only available to employers experiencing extenuating circumstances.
For further information, refer to our application form.
Who can apply
- CEO or equivalent, or
- Reporting contact.
What to include in your application
- Organisation’s name and ABN for each applicable submission group,
- reason for requesting an extension, and
- length of extension needed.
How to apply
- Access our Employer Portal and select ‘Lodge a support request’ with case type ‘General Enquiry’.
- If you do not have access to our portal, you can email support@wgea.gov.au.
- Include ‘Application for Extension’ as the subject for both options.
- Allow up to 10 business days for a response.
Important information
- An application for extension must be submitted by 31 May, no late applications will be considered.
- Once an extension has been granted, you cannot apply for a further extension.
- You must submit your fully compliant report by 31 May or within the approved extension period to be eligible to receive a Certificate of Compliance.
- For more information about extensions, refer to the extensions FAQs below.
- For information about how to access the portal, refer to the reporting guide chapter on Login Access.
Frequently asked questions
How do I apply for an extension?
You can either submit a support request and select the general enquiry option or you can email support@wgea.gov.au.
Please use the subject heading: Application for extension.
Why can’t I apply for an extension after the submission period?
Under section 17 of the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012, applicants must apply for an extension before the end of the current reporting submission period.
These dates are:
- Private sector – 1 April to 31 May
- Public sector – 1 September to 31 October (for this year)
Can I apply for more than one extension?
No. You can only apply for one extension each year.
What if I need more than 4 weeks extension time?
If your organisation is experiencing extenuating circumstances that may require a longer extension than 4 weeks you can contact us at support@wgea.gov.au to discuss further.
How do I know if my extension is accepted?
You will receive a response to your enquiry advising your 4 week extension has been approved, along with the new due date of your submission.
If you have applied for an extension prior to the end of the reporting period and we are unable to get back to you before the reporting period ends, we will still honour your extension period.
Can I extend my extension period by another few weeks?
No. Once an extension has been granted, no further extensions can be approved.
Will I be made non-compliant if I do not submit my report before the end of my extension period?
You will be non-compliant if you do not submit you report before the end of the extension period.
We encourage you to still submit your report as soon as possible as you will still be eligible to receive an Executive Summary, Industry Benchmark Report and have your data published on the data explorer
How do I get a Compliance Certificate?
If you are registered to report the only way you can receive a compliance certificate is if you submit your report or ask for an extension prior to the end of the reporting submission period and submit within the extension timeframe.
Can I get a compliance certificate if I miss the reporting deadlines?
You will not be eligible to receive a compliance certificate as you will be non-compliant with the reporting requirements of the Act.
When do I need to lodge my extension?
You need to apply for your extension prior to the last day of your submission period.
These dates are:
- Private sector – 1 April to 31 May
- Public sector – 1 September to 31 October (for this year)
Why have you previously allowed for compliance certificates to be issued for overdue reports submitted after the due date?
The recent review of the Workplace Gender Equality Procurement Principles revealed that WGEA does not have discretion when it comes to issuing compliance certificates to potential suppliers of goods and services to government. WGEA therefore cannot issue a compliance certificate to an employer who reports late, unless the employer received an extension of time to report.
How do I prove my organisation has submitted its WGEA report if it was not lodged on time?
When you have submitted a report and that report has been assessed and cleared for any data issues, you will be issued with a successful completion notification email.
You can supply this to your CEO (or equivalent) to show that your Gender Equality Report has been completed.
What do I do if I am tendering for a contract and I have been asked to show my compliance certificate, but have lodged after the due date?
If you have not submitted your report by the due date or the approved extension date you are non-compliant with the Workplace Gender Equality Act.
You will need to advise the procuring agency that you do not have a compliance certificate due to not reporting on time.
What do I do if I have an active contract and I am non-compliant?
If you are the recipient of an Australian Government contract and become non-compliant with the WGE Act during the term of a contract, you should notify the nominated Departmental contact officer.
What happens if I have submitted a request for help to WGEA and it is not resolved 31 May?
If WGEA is unable to respond to your request for assistance prior to 31 May, we will work with you to submit your report as soon as possible. You will not be non-compliant while this process is underway.
Can I re-submit my report if I notice an error?
When you submit your report, you have 28 days to review and ensure there are no errors in your report. If you identify an error, you have the opportunity to re-submit your report within the 28 day period.
- Outside of that 28 day period, you cannot re-open your report.
Will I be named on the non-compliant list if I do not report by 31 May but report after this date?
WGEA considers many factors when deciding whether to exercise the discretion to name an employer on the non-compliant list.
The fact that you did submit a report is strong grounds for the discretion to be exercised in your favour meaning that you will not be named by WGEA on the non-compliant list due to failing to submit a report.
If I will not be compliant, why should I report?
If you complete reporting in the next few months after the deadline date, you will be eligible to receive an Executive Summary, Industry Benchmark Report and have your data published on the data explorer. This provides important information to you about how you are performing in relation to gender equality and highlights areas for improvement.
In addition, your employees and prospective employees, stakeholders and the broader community and media will know that you have undertaken gender equality reporting. With the publication of gender pay gaps there is now increased scrutiny on WGEA gender equality reporting requirements.
Reporting also means you avoid the consequence of being publicly named by WGEA as non-compliant.
What if we make a genuine mistake (i.e. report contact and/or CEO had left the organisation and we weren’t aware we needed to report) – is there an overdue submission option?
You can still submit your Gender Equality Report, however if you have not submitted in the reporting submission period you will not be compliant. Consequences of being non-compliant can be partially mitigated by still reporting.