Reporting eligibility

Relevant employers, as defined under the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 (the Act), must register with the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) and lodge an annual Gender Equality Report. 

Relevant employers are:

• any employer with 100 or more employees in Australia
• any employer with 80 or more employees, if they lodged a report in the previous year
• a registered higher education provider that is an employer
• a Commonwealth company or Commonwealth entity with 100 or more employees in Australia
• employers that have, or expect to have, 100 or more employees for any period totalling 6 months or more within a reporting period. These months do not need to be consecutive.

For more information on understanding the difference between the reporting period vs the lodgement period, refer to Reporting dates.

A relevant employer can be:

• a standalone organisation (single ABN)
• a corporate group with 100 or more employees in total across all employing ABNs (subsidiaries).
• A subsidiary with 100 or more employees.

For further information about corporate groups and their subsidiaries, refer to Corporate Structures.

Not registered to report with WGEA

Relevant employers reporting to WGEA for the first time must register to report.

For further information and instructions, refer to Register to report.

The eligibility for relevant employer status is determined by the total employee count within the organisation.

Employers must count all employees In Australia who are:

• full-time,
• part-time, 
• casual, and
• on a fixed term contract. 

Employers should not count employees who are: 

• independent contractors who are self-employed, and 
• employees from a recruitment agency placed in your organisation.  

If an employer previously reported to WGEA and their total employee count has reduced below 80 for at least 6 months of the reporting period, the employer:

• may no longer meet the definition of relevant employer
• may no longer be required to report to WGEA
• must notify WGEA about the changes to their employee count.

Employers can notify WGEA by contacting us via WGEA's Employer Portal (as a support request) or refer to Contact support.

Employee count based on organisation structure:

• a standalone organisation (single ABN) and their employee count falls below 80 employees, for 6 or more months of a reporting period.
• a corporate group and the total number of employees (within the parent organisation and subsidiaries) falls below 80 employees in total, for 6 or more months of a reporting period.

For further information and instructions, refer to Maintaining your organisation's details.