0.0 – Evidenced but not in GEAP or publishable document
Entities may have uploaded supporting documents in the ‘not to be published’ category. Our reviewers may have assessed one of the requirements as not compliant because the evidence was included in a document that was uploaded to the platform as ‘not to be published’. This means that the entity has chosen not to publish this information when the Commission publishes GEAPs on its website later this year. However, under the Gender Equality Act (2020) there are some required criteria that must be included in your GEAP or another publishable document.
How can I resolve this?
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Refer to the criterion that was assessed as non-compliant
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Update the required criterion in the Gender Equality Action Plan or another publishable document and re-submit your GEAP or publishable supporting document.
1.0 – Baseline Audit Analysis
This requirement was evaluated separately as the obligation to submit workplace gender audit was decoupled from the GEAP submission for this reporting year.
2.1 – There is no clear evidence or a statement within the GEAP or publishable document to demonstrate that consultation has been conducted in the development of the GEAP
Our compliance checking team reviewed the GEAP submission and could not find evidence to demonstrate that consultation was conducted in the development of the GEAP.
This may have been assessed as non-compliant because it was included in a document that was uploaded to the platform as ‘not to be published’, please refer to item 0.0.
The process of consultation is intended to help the workforce and other key stakeholder groups to understand the results of the workplace gender audit. It is also designed to seek ideas from these stakeholders for how an organisation can address any workplace gender equality issues it has identified.
Under the Act, in developing a GEAP, a defined entity must consult with the governing body of the entity, the employees, employee representatives (including relevant trade unions) and any other relevant person.
How can I resolve this?
To evidence compliance with this requirement, at a minimum, there must be a statement in the GEAP confirming that consultation was conducted in line with the obligations under the Act.
To meet compliance for this criterion, entities who have conducted appropriate consultation may insert the sample text below into their GEAP or a supporting document marked ‘to be published’.
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Meaningful Consultation sample text Our consultation process reflects the requirements set out in the Victorian Gender Equality Act (2020). As part of this process, our team consulted with, and sought input into, the development of the Gender Equality Action Plan from the (Name of Entity) Board as its governing body, employees, and relevant trade unions and/or their employee representatives. |
2.1.1 – My entity did not conduct consultation with one or more of the groups required under the Act, such as the governing body, employees, relevant trade unions and/or their employee representatives
Our compliance check team reviewed your GEAP submission and could not find evidence to demonstrate that consultation was conducted with one or more of the following groups: governing body of the entity, the employees, relevant trade unions and/or their employee representatives. This may have been assessed as non-compliant because it was included in a document that was uploaded to the platform as ‘not to be published’, please refer to item 0.0.
Under the Act, a defined entity must consult with the governing body of the entity, the employees, trade unions and/or their employee representatives in the development of the GEAP. For consultation to be effective, a diversity of employees must be able to make a meaningful contribution to the decision-making and development processes for your GEAP.
The Commission advised in its GEAP guidance that through the consultation process, entities should share the results of the workplace gender audit (removing personal or potentially identifying information) with the workforce and seek ideas for how to address any workplace gender equality issues identified. This consultation assists the organisation to understand the perspective of its workforce regarding priorities for improvement. Consultation should inform the strategies and measures that are included in the GEAP.
How can I resolve this?
If an entity has not conducted consultation with one or more of the groups required under the Gender Equality Act 2020, your entity must do this prior to the GEAP being resubmitted.
To meet this requirement, an entity could provide a copy of the GEAP to the relevant group and seek feedback about the GEAP and its proposed strategies and measures.
If an entity has not consulted with a relevant union and does not have employee representatives, the entity must make contact with the Community and Public Services Union (CPSU), Trades Hall Council, Australian Education Union, or the Australian Services Union (ASU) or your organisation’s union organiser. In some cases, an Employee Relations Adviser within your Human Resources team will be able to support entities to contact their unions.
Once an entity has completed this step, please refer to the sample text in item 2.1 that can be used by entities to update the GEAP or a supporting publishable document.
For further assistance with this requirement, please contact the Commission via email: enquiries@genderequalitycommission.vic.gov.au.
2.2 – The statement does not refer to consultation having been conducted with the entity’s governing body
Our compliance check team reviewed your GEAP submission and could not find evidence to demonstrate that consultation was conducted with your entity’s governing body in the development of your GEAP. This may have been assessed as non-compliant because it was included in a document that was uploaded to the platform as ‘not to be published’, please refer to item 0.0.
Under the Act, the ‘governing body’ of a defined entity must be consulted in the development of the GEAP. The governing body is a defined entity’s most senior board of directors, trustees, committee of management, council, or other governing authority. The governing body is responsible for strategic oversight and financial management of an organisation.
Local Councils
The elected Council are the governing body for local councils. They must therefore be consulted in the development of council GEAPs. However, Councillors are not required to formally adopt or endorse the GEAP.
How can I resolve this?
To evidence compliance with this requirement, at a minimum, there must be a statement in the GEAP confirming that this consultation was conducted with the governing body, as defined above. For local councils, this statement must confirm that consultation was conducted with elected Councillors.
Please refer to the sample text in item 2.1 that can be used by entities to make this amendment to the GEAP, or a supporting document marked ‘to be published’.
If your entity has not conducted consultation with its governing body, please refer to item 2.1.1 for further guidance.
2.3 – The statement does not refer to consultation having been conducted with the entity’s employees
Our compliance checking team reviewed your GEAP submission and could not find evidence to demonstrate that consultation was conducted with your entity’s employees in the development of your GEAP. Under the Act, employees of a defined entity must be consulted in the development of the GEAP. This may have been assessed as non-compliant because it was included in a document that was uploaded to the platform as ‘not to be published’, please refer to item 0.0.
How can I resolve this?
To evidence compliance with this requirement, at a minimum, there must be a statement in your GEAP confirming that consultation was conducted with employees.
Please refer to the sample text in item 2.1 that can be used by entities to make this amendment or updates to the GEAP or a supporting document marked ‘to be published’.
If your entity has not conducted consultation with its employees, please refer to item 2.1.1 for further guidance.
2.4 – The statement does not refer to consultation having been conducted with the entity’s employee representatives (including relevant trade unions)
Our compliance checking team reviewed your GEAP submission and could not find evidence to demonstrate that consultation was conducted with your entity’s trade unions and/or employee representatives in the development of the GEAP. This may have been assessed as non-compliant because it was included in a document that was uploaded to the platform as ‘not to be published’, please refer to item 0.0.
How can I resolve this?
To evidence compliance with this requirement, at a minimum, there must be a statement in the GEAP confirming that this consultation was conducted with relevant trade unions and/or employee representatives in the development of the GEAP. Entities have the option to provide further information about the specific trade unions consulted.
Please refer to the sample text in item 2.1 that can be used by entities to make this amendment to the GEAP or a supporting document marked ‘to be published’.
If your entity has not conducted consultation with its employee representatives and/or unions, please refer to item 2.1.1 for further guidance.
3.1 – There is not a statement or evidence in the GEAP that demonstrates that the entity has considered the gender equality principles in the Act in the preparation of the GEAP
Our compliance checking team reviewed your GEAP submission and could not find a statement or evidence to demonstrate your entity has considered the gender equality principles contained in the Act in the preparation of your GEAP.
This may have been assessed as non-compliant because it was included in a document that was uploaded to the platform as ‘not to be published’, please refer to item 0.0.
How can I resolve this?
To evidence compliance with this requirement, there should be a statement that clearly articulates how the organisation has considered the gender equality principles in the Act in preparing its GEAP.
This may be evidenced under a headline “Case for Change” or may be included within other sections of the GEAP.
The statement may include reference to how the organisation has used the principles to inform the strategies and measures in its GEAP or in the overall development of the plan.
Please refer to the sample text below that can be used by entities to update the GEAP or a supporting document marked ‘to be published’.
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Case for Change sample text (Name of entity) has considered the gender equality principles (principles) contained in the Gender Equality Act 2020 in the development of this Gender Equality Action Plan (GEAP). (Our entity) is committed to upholding these principles, which have been used to inform the strategies and measures contained within this GEAP. During development of our GEAP, we considered women’s historical experiences of discrimination and disadvantage based on sex and gender, and prepared strategies to promote equal opportunity for women and gender diverse staff. (Name of entity) has also considered intersectional gender inequality in the development of its GEAP. We are committed to taking action to address how gender inequality can interact with other inequities by:
Where intersectionality may be a new concept or consideration for our organisation, we have also worked to build capacity when it comes to addressing intersectional gender inequalities experienced by our employees. (Entities may wish to strengthen this section by including the gender equality principles):
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3.2 – The entity has not clearly articulated how it has considered intersectional gender inequalities in the preparation of the GEAP
Our compliance check team reviewed your GEAP submission and could not find a statement or evidence to demonstrate your entity has considered intersectional gender inequalities in the preparation of your GEAP. This may have been assessed as non-compliant because it was included in a document that was uploaded to the platform as ‘not to be published’, please refer to item 0.0.
To evidence compliance with this requirement there should be a statement that clearly articulates how your organisation has considered intersectional gender inequalities in the preparation of your GEAP.
This statement should demonstrate that the entity recognises that gender inequality may be compounded by disadvantage or discrimination based on age, disability, ethnicity, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation, and other attributes.
This statement may include a commitment to taking further action to address how gender inequality can interact with other inequities by:
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analysing workplace gender audit data to identify systemic barriers to access, inclusion and equity for people who experience intersectional gender inequality
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identifying areas for improved intersectional data collection
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consulting with, and incorporating feedback from staff who experience intersectional gender inequality in the development of the GEAP
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developing strategies and measures to specifically address how gender inequality affects diverse staff who face more than one type of inequality.
Where intersectionality may be a new concept or consideration for the organisation, we encourage entities to consider how they might be able to build capacity when it comes to addressing intersectional gender equalities experienced by your employees.
How can I resolve this?
To evidence compliance with this requirement, there should be a statement that clearly articulates how your organisation has considered intersectional gender inequality in preparing its GEAP.
This may be evidenced under a headline titled ‘Case for Change’ or may be included within other sections of the GEAP.
Please refer to the sample text in item 3.1 that can be used by entities to make this amendment to the GEAP or a supporting document marked ‘to be published’.
4.1 – Strategies and measures for promoting gender equality in the workplace of the entity are not present
Our compliance checking team reviewed your GEAP submission and could not find strategies and measures for promoting gender equality in the workplace. This may have been assessed as non-compliant because it was included in a document that was uploaded to the platform as ‘not to be published’, please refer to item 0.0.
How can I resolve this?
To evidence compliance with this requirement, the GEAP should include strategies/measures/actions to address gender inequality.
This list of example strategies and measures may provide some guidance to help you develop your GEAP.
4.2 – Strategies and measures for promoting gender equality in the workplace of the entity are not based on the results of the workplace gender audit
Our compliance checking team reviewed your GEAP submission and could not find strategies or measures that are based on the results of the workplace gender audit. This may have been assessed as non-compliant because it was included in a document that was uploaded to the platform as ‘not to be published’, please refer to item 0.0.
How can I resolve this?
To evidence compliance with this requirement, the GEAP should include strategies/measures/actions that are based on findings from the workplace gender audit (i.e. based on the organisation’s workforce data or employee experience data).
The workplace gender audit data must include results on the following workplace gender equality indicators:
- Gender composition of all levels of the workforce
- Gender composition of governing bodies
- Equal remuneration for work of equal or comparable value across all levels of the workforce, irrespective of gender
- Sexual harassment in the workplace
- Recruitment and promotion practices in the workplace
- Availability and utilisation of terms, conditions and practices relating to family violence leave, flexible working arrangements and working arrangements supporting workers with family or caring responsibilities
- Gendered segregation within the workplace
The strategies and measures in the GEAP should address forms of gender inequality that have been identified through the workplace gender audit. Strategies and measures should be based on insights that emerge from the audit data collected under one or more of the workplace gender equality indicators.
Strategies and measures are not required to be specifically grouped according to the indicators; however, we would expect that in best practice examples, these links are clearly demonstrated. This is not a requirement for compliance.
Note: in previous advice we have stated that it is not a requirement that there is one or more strategy / measure for each indicator (for example, if an entity does not have control over its governing body). However, we would expect that a good practice GEAP would include strategies and measures covering all seven indicators.
This list of example strategies and measures may provide some guidance to help you develop your GEAP.
5.1 – There is not a strategic resourcing plan/statement, which sets out details of how the defined entity will assign resources to implement the strategies and measures within the GEAP
Properly resourcing the implementation of the GEAP is critical to delivering on an organisation’s obligation to make reasonable and material progress towards workplace gender equality. Under the Act, a defined entity must make reasonable and material progress in relation to the workplace gender equality indicators. This may have been assessed as non-compliant because it was included in a document that was uploaded to the platform as ‘not to be published’, please refer to item 0.0.
Defined entities are required to consider how they will assign resources to implement the strategies and measures within the GEAP.
How can I resolve this?
At a minimum, to evidence compliance with this requirement, it is expected that defined entities include a statement or information explaining that the organisation has a plan to resource and action the GEAP appropriately.
Ideally, this statement will include details of how the defined entity will resource the implementation of activities within the GEAP and demonstrate commitment to making progress towards gender equality.
For example, the plan could include details of this resourcing such as:
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how the organisation will resource the implementation of activities within the GEAP;
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an outline of activities that require resourcing such as training, a summary of staff time (FTE) and roles allocated to the implementation of the GEAP;
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an estimate of time for staff to participate in training and other activities; and/or
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a timeline of when specific strategies or actions will be resourced.
Please refer to the sample text below that can be used by entities to update the GEAP or a supporting document marked ‘to be published’.
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Strategic Resourcing sample text The (name of entity)’s Gender Equality Action Plan 2021-2025 (GEAP) aims to promote gender equality within our workforce and improve outcomes for people of all genders. Under the Gender Equality Act 2020 (Vic) (name of entity) is required to ensure adequate resources are invested to implement its GEAP. Properly resourcing the implementation of the GEAP is critical to delivering on our commitments to staff and meeting our obligation under the Act to make reasonable and material progress towards workplace gender equality. The delivery of this plan will be overseen by (insert name of division(s) or body(ies) within entity) and resourced through the (name of team or role) Several actions identified in the GEAP include participation of employees from across the business in activities to raise awareness, knowledge, and skill development. The (name of entity) has allocated an annual budget and resources to support delivery of GEAP actions that have a cost. A significant number of actions within the GEAP will be delivered by our (divisional team). If required, we will redirect budget to meet commitments set out in this GEAP. (Option to include further information such as):
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6.0 – Meaningful Progress
This requirement was not assessed as GEAPs were being developed for the first time. Under section 19(3)(b) of the Act, a defined entity is required to report on the progress it has made through the strategies in the GEAP, every second year after 2021. The Commission will provide further guidance on how entities will need to report on progress in late 2022.
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