Government tenders

Relevant employers tendering for government contracts may be asked to supply a WGEA issued Certificate of Compliance as part of their tender application.

Relevant employers that do not meet their compliance requirements will not receive a Certificate of Compliance and may not be eligible to tender for contracts under the Commonwealth procurement framework and may not be eligible for Commonwealth grants or other financial assistance.

To be considered for Commonwealth government procurement contracts valued at or above the relevant procurement thresholds, relevant employers must prove compliance with the Act.

This is done by providing a WGEA-issued Certificate of Compliance to the government agency running the procurement process. This certificate may be required:

• as part of an approach to market submission; or
• before entering a contract with the relevant Commonwealth government agency.

Relevant employers tendering for government contracts may be asked to supply a WGEA issued Certificate of Compliance as part of their tender application.

Relevant employers that meet all compliance requirements will be issued with a Certificate of Compliance. Provide this certificate to the government agency you are tendering with to demonstrate your compliance with WGEA.

For further information, refer to Compliance overview. 

If unregistered relevant employers wish to be considered for Commonwealth government procurement contracts valued at or above the relevant procurement thresholds, they must register to lodge an annual Gender Equality Report with WGEA.  

Once registration has been processed, employers will be enrolled in a Gender Equality Reporting program and receive a WGEA registration outcome email with details about when the first report is due.   

Newly registered employers can provide this registration outcome email as proof of registration when tendering until you lodge your first report and receive a Certificate of Compliance

If you have registered to report to WGEA for the first time, you will not be considered compliant or issued with a compliance certificate until after you have lodged your first report and met your compliance requirements. 

For further information, refer to Register to report.

If your organisation does not meet the definition of relevant employer, you are not required to report to WGEA.  

If you are not a relevant employer, you must advise the organisation you are tendering with that you are therefore not required to report to WGEA and cannot obtain a certificate of compliance.

For further information, refer to Eligibility – relevant employer.

The Commonwealth Government Workplace Gender Equality Procurement Principles describe the compliance requirements for government contracts. The Commonwealth Procurement Rules require certain Commonwealth agencies procuring goods and services to apply this policy.

The effect of this is that relevant employers that are non-compliant with their obligations under the Act may be precluded from certain Commonwealth government procurement.

Compliance with WGEA legislation is increasingly important in State government and private sector procurement and business relationships. For example:

• some State governments are requiring evidence of compliance with the WGE legislation as part of their procurement frameworks
• some businesses are only procuring goods and services from other businesses that can also demonstrate compliance with the WGE legislation
• some Commonwealth grants or other financial help are only available to compliant businesses.

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