Before announcing an election date, one of the last acts of this government was to pass amendments to the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 (the Act) on 27 March 2025, giving employers 12 months to get going.
It is now a requirement for employers with 500+ employees to select, make progress or achieve three out of the following five gender equality targets:
> Gender Pay Gap
> Workforce and Board Composition
> Support for Carers and Parents
> Consultation
> Prevention of Sexual Harassment
The time frame for this is three years.
Employers that don’t will have failed to comply with the act and may be unable to tender for some Commonwealth contracts or, worse, be publicly named!
Private Sector Employers – 1 April to 31 May 2026
Commonwealth Public Sector Employers – 1 September to 31 October 2026.
This will affect 2,000 employers to start with.
Employers that do not select, progress, or achieve the targets fail to comply with the Act and may not be able to tender for certain Commonwealth contracts. If they do not have a reasonable excuse, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) can publicly name them!!
WGEA will also publish every employer’s targets and outcomes on their Data Explorer website.
