For more detailed information and a step-by-step process on how to report, please refer to the relevant sections of this guide.
General questions
When is the submission period?
The submission period for Commonwealth public sector gender equality reporting is from 1 September to 31 October.
How do I access the WGEA portal?
Here is the link to the WGEA Portal. To access the Portal and submit data, a person from your organisation will need to have a digital identity (such as a myID). WGEA cannot assist or resolve any issues with the setup or authorisation of digital identity credentials for an individual. Review Logging in to the Portal for more detailed information.
How do I change our login if the person who set it up has now left?
If your report contact has changed, the new contact will be required to set up a digital identity and seek authorisation from the Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM) in your workplace to report on your agency’s behalf. Report contacts can be updated from within the Portal in the ‘Organisation’ tab.
A new report contact is added when they login with a myID for the first time. An old report contact can be removed by removing the contact relationship type (e.g. report contact) before deactivating.
Review Logging in to the Portal for more detailed information.
What do I need to complete for reporting?
Commonwealth public sector gender equality reporting requires employers to complete the:
- online Questionnaire outlining an employer’s policies, strategies and actions on gender equality (this is completed via the Portal)
- the Workforce management statistics (WMS) spreadsheet outlining employee movements during the reporting period (1 January – 31 December) and
- the Workplace profile (WPP) spreadsheet outlining an employer’s workforce composition, salaries and remuneration.
Find the full details of the steps to complete a submission under Steps to complete a submission.
Note that is you have authorised some data to be transferred by the Australian Public Service Commission, you will only complete the online Questionnaire and questions 5-7 of the Workforce management statistics (WMS) spreadsheet.
What do I need to upload if have authorised some data to be transferred by the Australian Public Service Commission?
If you have authorised some data to be transferred by the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC), you will only need to complete the online Questionnaire and questions 5 to 7 of the Workforce management statistics spreadsheet—you will not need to upload your own Workplace Profile spreadsheet. Employers will not need to communicate with the APSC about this process.
Can I edit our submission after I’ve submitted it?
You will be able to make edits to your submission for 28 days after you submit.
If you make edits, you will be required to get approval, complete the declarations, and re-submit before your 28-day change period ends. You cannot make any further amendments once the 28-day change period has ended.
What should I do if I have technical problems when completing the submission?
If you experience technical issues while completing the report, please lodge a support request through the Portal or via email. Please include as much detail (e.g. screenshots) as you can. A WGEA staff member will investigate and assist.
How do I comply with the Workplace Gender Equality Act?
An employer will comply with the Act if they:
- lodge an annual report with all mandatory data before the submission deadline (including where an extension has been granted)
- have their CEO or Agency/Department head (or equivalent) review and approve the submission
- do not include anything false or misleading in the submission, or in the additional information WGEA requests
- inform/share relevant parts of their submission with their governing body, employees, shareholders and employee groups, and
- give a copy of the Executive Summary and Industry Benchmark Report to each member of the employer’s governing body (if any) as soon as practicable after receiving the documents.
From 1 January 2025, employers with 500 or more employees will also be required to have a policy or strategy in place against each of the six Gender Equality Indicators to remain compliant. Employers need to have these policies or strategies in place by the end of 2024 to advise in next year’s report they are meeting the requirements.
For more information, see Compliance.
Workplace Profile and Workforce Management Statistics
What employees should be included in the Workplace Profile?
In your Workplace Profile spreadsheet, include any of the following types of employees who were employed as at your snapshot date:
- all employees who were employed by your organisation on the snapshot date, even if they have since left the organisation
- all employees who work for you in Australia, regardless of whether they are Australian citizens or not
- Full-time or part-time employees who were stood down in the 12 months preceding the snapshot date (i.e. employees who were technically ‘employed' on the snapshot even if they were not working or being paid)
- foreign nationals or expatriates working in Australia, including those with global responsibilities, if the Australian organisation is their employer or they are the CEO
- employees who have worked overseas for less than six months in a reporting period
- employees on parental leave (paid or unpaid) or on extended leave
- equity partners who receive part of their earnings as a salary
- casual or seasonal workers
- trainees, apprentices, and graduates.
Do not include:
- an employee who resigned or was terminated/dismissed before the snapshot date
- an employee who was hired after the snapshot date
- independent contractors
- employees of a labour hire company who have been assigned to work in your business
- volunteers or unpaid visitors.
Do I need to include contractors, consultants or labour hire in the Workplace Profile and Workplace Management Statistics files?
Consultants, contractors and labour hire should not be included in your report. They would be captured by the organisation that employs and supplied the contractor, consultant or labour hire.
What is the snapshot date in the Workplace Profile?
The snapshot date provides a snapshot of an employer’s workforce during the reporting period (1 January to 31 December). The snapshot date is only used for the Workplace Profile. Employers are free to choose any snapshot date during the reporting period, though we recommend this is kept consistent year-to-year to aid in analysis. If the Australian Public Service Commission is transferring your data to WGEA, the snapshot date for your Workplace Profile will automatically be set to 31 December.
Can reporting be done via STP data sharing?
This is not an option for completing the Workplace Profile. The ‘STP’ version of the Workplace Profile has payment categories aligned to STP reporting, but is not set up for automatic data sharing.
What payment types should I include in my Workplace Profile?
For a list of payment types that you should include in the Workplace Profile, see Entering different types of payments.
What if my organisation has had a machinery of government (MOG) change?
The Australian Public Service Commission manages data for machinery of government change through the APS Employment Database. If your agency was part of a MOG change during the calendar year, the data at 31 December (snapshot date) used for gender equality reporting will reflect this change. Remuneration data will be annualised and converted to FTE, as per the requirements of the Workplace Profile.
Data provided by the Australian Public Service Commission
How can I see the data transferred by the Australian Public Service Commission?
A summary of the aggregated data provided by the Australian Public Service Commission will be available to you through the WGEA portal when you have completed your submission, via the ‘Data insights’ tab. WGEA does not have access to the raw files uploaded by the Australian Public Service Commission. If you would like access to the raw files relating to this data, we suggest that you reach out to your internal HR team or whoever completes the APS Remuneration Survey to interrogate the data.
What if I have both APS and non-APS employees?
If you have a ‘hybrid’ workforce (i.e., both APS and non-APS employees), the Australian Public Service Commission will still be able to transfer APS employee data for your Workplace Profile. The transfer will not include any data for the Workforce Management Statistics section.
Hybrid employers who opt in for the APSC transfer will submit:
- Questionnaire
- Workforce Management Statistic questions 1-7, covering both APS and non APS employees
- Workplace Profile for non APS employees
Do I have to nominate to have the Australian Public Service Commission transfer my data, every year?
No—preferences for Australian Public Service Commission will be rolled over from the previous year. If you would like to change these preferences, notify WGEA via email so your preference can be updated in our system.
How do APS classifications compare to WGEA manager categories?
APS classifications are aligned to WGEA manager categories, for the purposes of consistent reporting. The table below compares WGEA manager categories to APS Cclassifications.
|
Classification |
WGEA manager category |
|
APS trainee APS graduate |
Nil. |
|
APS level 1 APS level 2 APS level 3 APS level 4 APS level 5 APS level 6 |
Nil. |
|
Executive level 1 |
Other managers (OM) |
|
Executive level 2 |
Senior managers (SM) |
|
Senior Executive Band 1 or equivalent |
Executive and general managers (GM) |
|
Senior Executive Band 2 or equivalent |
Key management personnel (KMP) |
|
Senior Executive Band 3 or equivalent |
Key management personnel (KMP) |
|
Agency Head |
Chief Executive Officer or equivalent (CEO) |
What is included in total remuneration for APS employees?
Total remuneration includes any of the following relevant payments:
- Base Salary and shift penalty payments
- Agency Superannuation Contribution
- Motor Vehicle Cost EVS
- Cash in Lieu of Motor Vehicle
- Motor Vehicle Parking
- Personal Benefits
- Bonuses (Work Related, Retention, Productivity, Sign On, Group or Whole of Agency Performance)
- Top of range payments
- Allowances (annualised and total)
- Overtime payments
- Shift penalty payments
- Other Supplementary Payments not otherwise described
For more information, see the APS remuneration survey guide or get in contact with your organisations’ HR team or relevant team who submitted the remuneration survey to the Australian Public Service Commission.
Gender pay gap
When will I receive my gender pay gap?
Your gender pay gap will be available in your Executive Summary, which will be generated when you have completed your submission through the WGEA Portal.
Will my gender pay gap be made public?
WGEA will publish the first set of Commonwealth public sector gender pay gaps in 2025. This will cover the 2023 reporting period (1 January – 31 December 2023).
Why might my WGEA calculated gender pay gap be different to that reported by the Australian Public Service Commission?
WGEA calculates the gender pay gap using total remuneration, which includes superannuation, overtime, bonuses and other additional payments. The Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) calculates the gender pay gap using base salary, which does not include the additional payments like superannuation or overtime. Using this method ensures the APSC gender pay gap is comparable to the National gender pay gap.
At an aggregate or industry level, the WGEA gender pay gap calculated for the public sector includes both APS and non-APS agencies, while the APSC gender pay gap includes only APS agencies. Further information on how WGEA calculates a gender pay gap (including the formula) can be found at How to calculate a gender pay gap.
Requirement to inform stakeholders
Am I required to share my submission with stakeholders, and with whom should it be shared?
Within seven-days of lodgement, you are required to let employee organisations (with members in your workplace) know that the submission has been lodged and that they have the opportunity to comment on it.
As soon as reasonably practicable after making your submission, you are required to inform employees that it has been lodged, provide access to the public reports and advise of the opportunity to comment. You are also required to inform any shareholders of lodgement and provide access to the public reports.
Finally, you are required to share a copy of your Executive Summary with your governing body, or equivalent. For more information, see Requirement to inform stakeholders.
Executive Summary and Industry Benchmark Report
What is the Executive Summary Report?
The Executive Summary is an automatically-generated report of your results against WGEA’s six gender equality indicators. This is a summary of responses to mandatory questions in your WGEA submission and does not include voluntary response data. The purpose of this report is to enable you to identify priorities of action for your gender equality strategy. This report will be ready for download once you have completed your submission.
What is the Industry Benchmark Report?
The Industry Benchmark Report compares your gender equality data to that of all other Commonwealth public sector entities. The purpose of this report is to help you understand how your organisation is tracking against your peers and to identify areas for action. This report can only be generated after all organisations have finalised their reports and the data has been reviewed and analysed by WGEA. Employers will be notified via email when this document is ready to generate and download.
For more information, see Compare your data: the Industry Benchmark Report.