Questionnaire sections

A governing body means the body, or group of members of the employer, with primary responsibility for the governance of the employer. 

A governing body may be:

• Board of directors
• Trustees
• Management committee
• Council
• Other governing authority.

It is important to note that governing bodies are not:

• a diversity council or committee
• a global diversity and inclusion team.

Specify the type of body, the gender of the Chair and other members, and the existence of a formal selection policy and/or strategy, and whether a target has been set for the representation of women.

• You must indicate a governing body for every ABN reported
• If the ABN itself does not have a governing body, it will fall under the parent or groups governing body.

How to answer the governing body section

• For standalone (single ABN) employers - report the governing body details for the company on this submission.
• For corporate groups (one of more ABNs) - you must allocate a governing body response for each ABN being reported.

One submission covering an entire corporate group:

• If there is one governing body for all ABNs on the submission - check the box against each ABN and provide the governing body information.
• If there is more than one governing body for the ABNs on the submission - complete the first governing body and allocate the companies covered, then complete the next body entry.
  • All ABNs on the submission must eventually be covered.

Please note - the section displays the governing body for each ABN when complete and is not duplicated for each ABN it was allocated against.

More than one submission covering an entire corporate group:

• If one governing body is reported in more than one submission - ensure that any additional submissions that use the governing body information check the box 'this governing body was reported in another submission group'.
• This ensures that if the same body is reported in two different submissions that it will only be counted once in the dataset.

This section focuses on the policies employees have or the actions they have taken to ensure people performing work of equal or comparable value are paid equitably. 

• Formal policies or strategies on equal remuneration
• Conducting an analysis if there are remuneration gaps between women and men, including:
  • Type of analysis conducted
  • How recent the analysis was conducted 
  • Any actions taken as a result of the analysis

Employee consultation is a formalised way to collect information about your employees’ views on the workplace, what is working well and what could be improved. This section asks if you have consulted your employees about gender equality issues in the workplace during the reporting period, and any actions taken.

• If you have consulted with employees on issues concerning gender equality
• Existence of a policy or strategy for consulting with employees
• How you consulted with employees
• Which employees or employee groups you consulted with

This section focuses on the flexible work arrangements an employer makes available, including any formal policies and strategies as well as specific flexible working options that are available. You can read more in depth information about flexible work on the WGEA website.

A formal flexible work arrangement is an agreement between an employer and an employee to change the standard working arrangement to better accommodate an employee’s commitments out of work. Workplace flexibility is about more than "working from home" and it is not just for office workers. It can encompass a range of changes to the hours, pattern and location of work.
 

‘Hybrid teams’ refers to a flexible work arrangement where some employees in the team work remotely while other employees in the team work at the organisation’s usual workplace.

Parental leave policies are designed to support and protect working parents around the time of childbirth or adoption of a child and when children are young. There are several questions in the questionnaire that focus on whether employer-funded paid parental leave is available to carers in your organisation, in addition to government-funded parental leave.

• Through the government’s paid parental leave (PPL) scheme, eligible employees receive up to 18 weeks’ pay at the national minimum wage. This paid parental leave is not the equivalent to employer-funded paid parental leave. For information on the government’s PPL scheme, refer to the website of Services Australia.
• Employer- funded paid parental leave is where an employer sets their own paid parental leave policy in addition to the government’s PPL scheme, which allows eligible employees to take time away from work for the birth or adoption of a child. This leave is in addition to an employee’s other leave and can be offered through an award, employment contract, enterprise agreement, or a workplace policy.

This section asks for details of the existence of any employer-funded paid parental leave arrangements and information on the eligibility, length and type of payment made.

• The primary carer is the person who most meets the child's needs, including feeding, dressing, bathing and otherwise supervising the child in an age-appropriate manner. For a baby particularly, this role normally requires intensive physical involvement on an ongoing basis.
• The role of secondary carer often falls to a father or partner in a couple. The secondary carer provides additional support but is not the main carer of the child.

For example, you will be asked if you offer:

• the same type of employer-funded paid parental leave to employees of all genders without using the primary/secondary carer definitions, or
• if employer-funded parental leave is offered using the primary/secondary carer definitions.

To answer the initial question of this section you will need to select one option:

• If you offer employer funded PPL for primary and/or secondary carers you will be asked a series of questions about your scheme - including eligibility for the scheme, the length of leave offered, and how it is paid, or
• If you offer an ‘equally shared’ parental leave scheme which offers the same type, length and conditions to employees of all genders, who require parental leave, with no distinction between primary and secondary carers, or
• That you do not offer employer funded PPL in any form, in this circumstance you should answer 'no' on this section at the first opportunity. You may provide a reason if you wish to do so.

You will also be asked whether your employer-funded PPL:

• is available to women, men or all eligible employees regardless of gender
• covers birth, adoption, surrogacy, and/or stillbirth
• pays the employee’s full salary, the gap between the salary and the government-funded scheme, or as a lump sum
• includes superannuation contributions.

You will also be asked to identify:

• the minimum number of weeks of leave provided—if you provided different leave packages to different groups of employees, based on service time, industry or worksite, your answer would be based on the minimum number of weeks of leave available across all employee groups.
• the maximum number of weeks of leave provided - this field can be used to indicate the highest entitlement available for the employees reported within this submission. 
• the proportion of your total workforce with access to employer funded PPL scheme—this refers to all employees, including casuals. If, for example, all employees, including casuals, can access your paid parental leave for primary carers, you would enter '91–100%'. If only women or only men can access a particular type of parental leave, your answer should be the percentage of that group in comparison to your total number of employees
• the qualifying period, if any, for employer funded parental leave – this refers to a period of time that employees had to work for the organisation before they could access employer funded parental leave. If you provided different leave packages to different groups of employees, you should report what the requirement, if any, is for the majority of employees.
• when employees can take employer funded PPL – this refers to a requirement that employees must take employer funded paid PPL within a certain amount of time after the birth, adoption, surrogacy and/or stillbirth of a child. If you provided different leave packages to different groups of employees, you should report what the requirement, if any, is for the majority of employees.

 There is a free text box at the bottom of this section that is populated into your reporting documents should you wish to provide further detail on your scheme.

WGEA has developed information and guides for employers on developing gender equitable parental leave and a leading practice parental leave policy:

Asks how an employer supports employees with family or caring responsibilities, including through formal policies and strategies as well as other specific support mechanisms.

• Existence of a formal policy or strategy to support employees with family or caring responsibilities
• Inclusions to the formal policy or strategy
• Support mechanisms offered to employees

Asks about the measures an employer has in place related to sexual harassment, harassment on the grounds of sex and discrimination, including formal policies/strategies, grievance processes, and training.

For this section of the questionnaire, when we refer to sexual harassment we mean sexual harassment, harassment on the ground of sex or discrimination.

• Sexual harassment is when a person makes an unwelcome sexual advance, or an unwelcome request for sexual favours, to the person harassed; or engages in other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature in relation to the person harassed; in circumstances in which a reasonable person, having regard to all the circumstances, would have anticipated the possibility that the person harassed would be offended, humiliated or intimidated.
• Harassment on the ground of sex is when a person engages in unwelcome conduct of a demeaning nature of another person by reason of their sex or a characteristic that generally relates to or is attributed to their sex. This also takes into account circumstances relating to an individual’s sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, marital or relationship status.
• Discrimination happens when a person is treated less favourably, in circumstances that are the same or are not materially different, than a person of a different sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or on the ground of the person’s intersex status, marital or relationship status, pregnancy or potential pregnancy, breastfeeding, or family responsibilities.

The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person on the basis of gender identity, intersex status, sexual orientation, marital or relationship status, family responsibilities, pregnancy or potential pregnancy or breastfeeding. It also prohibits sexual harassment in many areas of public life including all work-related activity. Under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 it is also unlawful for a person to subject another person to a workplace environment that is hostile on the ground of sex.

The Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Act 2022 created a positive duty requiring employers to implement measures to prevent sexual harassment, hostile work environments and victimisation. This is in addition to the duty of care employers have under WHS legislation to provide a safe workplace and to eliminate and minimise identified risks to health and safety.

• For more information, refer to Safework Australia or your State or Territory Work Health and Safety regulatory body.
• More information about harassment on the ground of sex or discrimination can also be found at the Australian Human Rights Commission website.

Disclaimer - This section is not an exhaustive description of, or advice regarding the legal obligations attaching to employers. Employers are responsible for understanding the scope of rights and obligations attaching to employees and the workplace.

Domestic and family violence (DFV) refers to violent, abusive, or intimidating behaviour from a partner, former partner, carer or family member to control or coerce an employee, causing them harm or instilling fear.

This section asks how an employer supports employees experiencing family or domestic violence, including through formal policies and strategies as well as other specific support mechanisms.

Examples of DFV include:

• physical violence, including physical assault or abuse
• sexual assault and other sexually abusive or coercive behaviour
• emotional or psychological abuse, including verbal abuse and threats of violence
• economic abuse, including denying a person financial autonomy or support
• stalking and harassment, including through the use of electronic communication or social media
• unreasonably preventing the other person from making or keeping connections with her or his family or kin, friends, faith or culture.

Every year, millions of Australians – from all demographics – experience DFV. Both women and men experience DFV and most men are not violent.

However, the research shows clear gendered patterns in the perpetration and victimisation of DFV. Women are more likely than men to experience physical, sexual and emotional violence by an intimate partner and most victims – both men and women – experience violence from a male perpetrator.

The Fair Work Ombudsman’s Employer Guide to Family and Domestic Violence explains a number of ways that DFV impacts the workplace and includes information on developing a supportive workplace  policy.

The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) provides minimum entitlements to employees experiencing domestic and family violence. Under the Act, employees can:

• request flexible working arrangements
• access paid family domestic violence leave. This applies from 1 February 2023 for employees of employers which are not small businesses and from 1 August 2023 for employees of small business employers. Employees of small business employers can continue to take unpaid family and domestic violence leave until 1 August 2023.
• access paid or unpaid personal/ carers leave in some circumstances.

For more information on these entitlements, refer to the FWO’s  Employer Guide to Family and Domestic Violence