Changes to data requirements

This page contains a detailed overview of the changes to WGEA's reporting templates for employers submitting a report in 2024.

Some changes have been made to WGEA’s reporting requirements for 2024. 

• New reporting templates are available here.

Note: As a result of recent legislative reforms, some of the items previously noted as voluntary in the workplace profile and reporting questionnaire are mandatory for 2024 Gender Equality submission. For a detailed overview of the changes to WGEA's reporting templates for employers submitting a report in 2024, please refer to the information below for each section of the submission.

New mandatory requirements

1. Year of birth

You will be required to report on the year of birth for each employee who is included in the Workplace Profile.

2. Primary workplace location (postcode)

You will be required to provide the postcode of an employee’s primary workplace location.

• If an employee attends multiple different locations for work, you should provide the postcode of the work location where they worked the majority of the time.

Examples:

• If an employee works remotely (e.g. from home) for the majority of their time, WGEA’s preference is that you provide the postcode of the primary workplace location (in this case the employee’s home address). However, you may choose to enter the postcode of the employee’s home address or the office they report into.

• If you have stores at multiple locations, you should report the postcode of the employing business i.e. the store they work at.

3. Remuneration of the CEO, Heads of Business, and casually employed managers

You will need to report the remuneration of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or equivalent, Heads of Business (HOB), and any casually employed managers.

• For the unit level Workplace Profile template, you must now provide an annualised/FTE base salary and total remuneration amount for these employees.
• For the STP Workplace Profile template, you must now provide remuneration data in their component parts, as well as provide an ordinary hours figure and start date for these employees.

You do not need to report on the remuneration of overseas managers (OSM) who are more senior than the CEO or equivalent, and who report offshore.

• As with all remuneration data collected by WGEA, pay information of individuals is confidential and not published by WGEA.

There is no change to the mandatory data requirements in the Workforce Management Statistics template for 2024.

Structure change

The Questionnaire has been reviewed and streamlined for reporting in 2024.

• Questions relating to formal policies and/or strategies in the Questionnaire have been reframed in the language of the Gender Equality Indicators, where applicable.
• This is to make more clear the requirement for employers with 500 or more employees to have a policy and/or strategy for each of the six Gender Equality Indicators.

New mandatory questions

1. Governing body

You will be asked whether your organisation sets term limits for the Chair and/or Members of the governing body.

• If your organisation does set term limits, you will also be asked to provide the maximum length of the term limit in years.

Only one governing body response can be provided for each ABN, if an ABN has multiple governing bodies please select the most senior or the body that covers the majority of the ABN.

2. Targets to address gender equality

You will be asked if you set certain targets on gender equality.

• A list of targets will be provided and you can select all that apply.
• You will not be asked to provide details about the exact metrics set against a target.

3. Flexible work

You will be asked whether managers receive appropriate support to conduct performance evaluations that are not influenced by the work location of the employee.

• Training, guides and standard evaluation processes are some examples of support that can be provided by employers to mitigate proximity bias, or the favouring of on-site workers, by managers.

4. Paid parental leave

You will be asked if your organisation have an opt out approach to parental leave?

• An opt-out approach is where employees who do not wish to take their full parental leave entitlement can discuss with their manager to 'opt-out' of the entitlement and not take parental leave.

Previously, you were asked to report on the proportion of the workforce who had access to employer-funded paid parental leave.

• For 2024 reporting, you will be asked which employees have access to employer-funded paid parental leave by employment type.
• The options provided will be permanent, contract/fixed term, casual, and other. You can select all that apply.

If you impose an eligibility period prior to accessing employer-funded paid parental leave for certain employees, you should still select those employee types when answering this question.

You will be asked if your organisation has an 'opt out' approach to parental leave.

• An opt-out approach is where employees who do not wish to take their full parental leave entitlement can discuss with their manager to 'opt-out' of the entitlement and not take parental leave.

5. Sexual harassment, harassment on the ground of sex or discrimination

Reporting requirements on prevention, accountability for, and response to sexual harassment, harassment on the ground of sex or discrimination in the workplace have expanded. These reforms seek to align with good practice from Respect@Work to prevent and respond to sexual harassment, sex-based harassment and discrimination.

• For more information, refer to the Good Practice Indicators Framework for Preventing and Responding to Workplace Sexual Harassment | Respect@Work (respectatwork.gov.au)

You will be required to report on the following additional areas in relation to sexual harassment, harassment on the ground of sex or discrimination on a mandatory basis in 2024:

• Whether you have a policy or strategy and what is included in your formal policy/strategy on sexual harassment, harassment on the ground of sex or discrimination. A list of options will be provided and you can select all that apply;
• Whether your formal policy/strategy was reviewed and approved by the governing body and/or CEO or equivalent during the reporting period;
• Whether training on sexual harassment, harassment on the ground of sex or discrimination is provided to the governing body, managers, and non-managers, how frequently, and what is covered. A list of options will be provided and you can select all that apply;
• Whether the governing body and CEO or equivalent communicate their expectations on safety, respectful and inclusive workplace conduct, and if so, when this occurs;
• Information about what, if anything, is included in your workplace health and safety risk management process as it relates to workplace sexual harassment. A list of options will be provided and you can select all that apply;
• What actions or responses, if any, have been put in place as part of your workplace sexual harassment risk management process. A list of options will be provided and you can select all that apply;
• Supports, if any, provided to employees involved in and affected by sexual harassment. A list of options will be provided and you can select all that apply;
• Options, if any, available to employees who wish to disclose or raise concerns about incidents relating to sexual harassment or similar misconduct. A list of options will be provided and you can select all that apply;
• Whether your organisation collects data on sexual harassment, and if so, the type of data that is collected. A list of options will be provided and you can select all that apply. You will not be asked for metrics resulting from this data collection;
• Whether your organisation provides reports to the governing body and management on issues of sexual harassment, and if so, how frequently and topics included in the reports. A list of options will be provided and you can select all that apply.

New voluntary questions

1. Paid family and domestic violence leave

You will be asked questions about employees taking paid family and domestic violence leave. These questions are voluntary to answer. You will be first asked whether any of your employees took paid family and domestic violence leave during the reporting period. If the answer is yes, you will also be asked:

• how many employees took paid family and domestic violence leave;
• how many days of paid family and domestic violence leave were taken by employees in aggregate;
• and how many employees took the maximum leave entitlement.

This information is sought to inform Government about utilisation of family and domestic violence leave in the context of the new entitlement to 10-days paid family and domestic violence leave as a National Employment Standard under the Fair Work Act 2009.

• Deidentified data will be shared for this purpose and may also be released together with WGEA’s public data release at aggregate level (meaning across the whole WGEA dataset and not at the organisational level).

For more information on upcoming changes, visit Get future ready: A guide to understanding changes to WGEA’s legislation or view the New Reporting Requirements webinar recording.