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Audit data quality rules 2025

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Data uploaded as part of the 2025 audit is automatically tested for quality and possible compliance issues.

The results of this automated testing are presented in the Data quality report on the Reporting Platform(opens in a new window). When viewing the Data quality report, if your audit data has failed a data quality test, you’ll be presented with the option to visit this page to better understand the issue, and where relevant, be provided with guidance on how to address the issue.

This page lists every possible data issue that can be automatically tested but does not specify the severity and consequence of each issue. To understand the severity of each issue and the possible impact on your audit compliance outcome, please refer to the Data quality report.

Employee dataset

E_01 Your organisation had fewer than 50 active employees in its Employee dataset

The Gender Equality Act only applies to certain organisations with 50 or more employees. Section 3 of the Gender Equality Act defines an employee as follows:

an employee, of a defined entity, means a person employed by the defined entity on a full-time, part-time, casual or fixed term basis (including an apprentice or trainee) but does not include—
(a) a contractor or subcontractor; or
(b) an outworker; or
(c) a person on a vocational placement; or
(d) a student gaining work experience; or
(e) a volunteer.

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Active' data field indicates which employees were actively employed at the end of the audit reporting period.

The Commission checks that your employee dataset includes at least 50 active employees. This helps ensure you haven't missed anyone.

Advice on rule E_01

If your audit fails the test for rule E_01, the Commission will most likely ask you to resubmit.

To avoid this, you should check that you included all your employees in your employee dataset, and that you have applied the ‘Active’ field correctly. If you believe it's appropriate for your audit data to include fewer than 50 active employees, please tell us in the 'Workforce data commentary' field.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_02 Your organisation did not assign a unique reference to each employee

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Unique reference' field should contain a randomised identifier unique to each employee.

Ensure any reference you use cannot be used to re-identify an employee. Don’t use internal identifiers like payroll numbers, personnel numbers or username.

The Commission checks that each value in this field is unique, with no duplicates. This helps ensure you haven't included the same person more than once.

Advice on rule E_02

If your audit fails the test for rule E_02, the Commission will most likely ask you to resubmit.

To avoid this, you should check that each employee appears only once in your employee dataset. If you believe it's appropriate for your audit data to include the same person more than once, please tell us in the 'Workforce data commentary' field.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_03 All of the employees your organisation reported are of the same gender

The Gender Equality Act requires audits to be based on gender-disaggregated data. To show progress on the workplace gender equality indicators, you need to conduct a gendered analysis.

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Gender' field should contain a code to indicate the gender of each employee.

The Commission checks that you have reported employees in multiple gender groups. This helps ensure you have adequate data to support a gendered analysis.

Advice on rule E_03

If your audit fails the test for rule E_03, the Commission will most likely ask you to resubmit.

To avoid this, you should attempt to collect gender data for all employees in your employee dataset. If you believe it's appropriate for all of your employees to be in the same gender group, please tell us in the 'Gender data commentary' field.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_04 Your organisation provided a multi-select list of employee cultural identity values that includes 'Data unavailable'

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Cultural identity' field should contain a code to indicate each employee's cultural identity. If an employee has more than one cultural identity, you should format the selections as a list delimited with vertical bars like this: A|B|C

The value 'Data unavailable' should only be used if your organisation can't provide cultural identity data at this time. If you've provided a list of cultural identities for an employee, it wouldn't make sense for one of those values to be 'Data unavailable'.

The Commission checks that lists of cultural identity codes do not include the value 'Data unavailable'. This helps ensure you haven't made mistakes when preparing your cultural identity data.

Advice on rule E_04

If your audit fails the test for rule E_04, the Commission will most likely exclude some of your audit data from its publications and research.

To avoid this, you should remove the value 'Data unavailable' from any lists of cultural identity values. If you believe it's appropriate for a list of cultural identities to include the value 'Data unavailable', please tell us in the 'Demographics and intersectionality data commentary' field.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_05 All of the employees you have reported had the same employment basis

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Employment basis' field should contain a code to indicate the nature of each person's employment. This is a mandatory field, so you need to determine the right employment basis code for each employee.

The Commission checks that you have reported employees in multiple employment basis groups. This helps ensure our systems will be able to interpret your submission correctly.

Advice on rule E_05

If your audit fails the test for rule E_05, the Commission will most likely exclude some of your audit data from its publications and research. When people visit our Insights Portal(opens in a new window), some sections of your organisation's results may indicate that suitable data was not supplied.

To avoid this, you should check that you have assigned an accurate employment basis code to each employee. If you believe it's appropriate for all of your employees to be in the same employment basis group, please tell us in the ‘Job and employment data commentary’ field of the ‘Organisation’ dataset.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_06 Your organisation assigned the same level to all of your employees

The Gender Equality Act establishes seven workplace gender equality indicators. Two of these indicators require analysis at all levels of the workforce.

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Level' field should contain a number to indicate the level of each employee.

The Commission checks that you have reported employees at more than one level of your organisation. This helps ensure you have adequate data to support a by-level analysis.

Advice on rule E_06

If your audit fails the test for rule E_06, the Commission will most likely ask you to resubmit.

To avoid this, you should check that you have assigned an accurate level to each employee. If you believe it's appropriate for all of your employees to be at the same level, please tell us in the ‘Job and employment data commentary’ field of the ‘Organisation’ dataset.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_07 Your organisation reported an unexpected number of CEOs (or equivalents)

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Level' field should contain a number to indicate the level of each employee. The value 0 should be reserved for your organisation's CEO or equivalent head of organisation. The 'Active' data field indicates which employees were actively employed at the end of the audit reporting period.

The Commission checks that you have reported exactly one active CEO or equivalent. This helps ensure you have included the right group of people in your employee dataset.

Advice on rule E_07

If your audit fails the test for rule E_07, the Commission will most likely exclude some of your audit data from its publications and research. When people visit our Insights Portal(opens in a new window), some sections of your organisation's results may indicate that suitable data was not supplied.

To avoid this, you should check that:

  • you have included your CEO or equivalent head of organisation in your employee dataset;
  • you haven't included board members or other non-employees in your employee dataset; and
  • you have assigned levels based on each employee's role as at the end of the audit reporting period.

If you believe it's appropriate for your organisation to exclude your CEO from your employee dataset, or to have more than one active CEO, please tell us in the ‘Job and employment data commentary’ field of the ‘Organisation’ dataset.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_08 Your organisation used the Recruited value M, which is reserved for Machinery of Government changes

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Recruited' field should contain a code to indicate whether each person was recruited during the audit reporting period.

There is a special code M available for use by Victorian public service (VPS) departments. This code is used for employees that were transferred into the organisation due to a machinery of government change.

The Commission checks that you haven't used this code unless your organisation is a VPS department. This helps ensure you haven't made mistakes when preparing your recruitment data.

Advice on rule E_08

If your audit fails the test for rule E_08, the Commission will most likely exclude some of your audit data from its publications and research. When people visit our Insights Portal(opens in a new window), some sections of your organisation's results may indicate that suitable data was not supplied.

To avoid this, you should remove the code M from your recruitment data. If you believe your organisation was affected by a machinery of government change and should be allowed to use code M, please tell us in the ‘Job and employment data commentary’ field of the ‘Organisation’ dataset.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_09 Your organisation used the Exited value M, which is reserved for Machinery of Government changes

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Exited' field should contain a code to indicate whether each person was recruited during the audit reporting period.

There is a special code M available for use by Victorian public service (VPS) departments. This code is used for employees that were transferred out of the organisation due to a machinery of government change.

The Commission checks that you haven't used this code unless your organisation is a VPS department. This helps ensure you haven't made mistakes when preparing your exits data.

Advice on rule E_09

If your audit fails the test for rule E_09, the Commission will most likely exclude some of your audit data from its publications and research. When people visit our Insights Portal(opens in a new window), some sections of your organisation's results may indicate that suitable data was not supplied.

To avoid this, you should remove the code M from your recruitment data. If you believe your organisation was affected by a machinery of government change and should be allowed to use code M, please tell us in the ‘Job and employment data commentary’ field of the ‘Organisation’ dataset.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_10 Your organisation used more than 3 unique workforce group names

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. In 2023, organisations have the option to segment their employees into multiple distinct workforces using the 'Workforce group' field.

If the workforce groups you designate meet the specifications listed in the audit handbook(opens in a new window), they may be included in future research, reports and publications that include your organisation's audit results.

The Commission checks that you have used no more than 3 unique group names. This helps ensure the Commission will be able to use your workforce groups in future research, reports and publications.

Advice on rule E_10

If your audit fails the test for rule E_10, the Commission recommends that you revise your audit data to use fewer workforce groups, or leave this field blank.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_11 Your organisation did not assign all employees to a workforce group

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. In 2023, organisations have the option to segment their employees into multiple distinct workforces using the 'Workforce group' field.

If the workforce groups you designate meet the specifications listed in the audit handbook(opens in a new window), they may be included in future research, reports and publications that include your organisation's audit results.

The Commission checks that you have either assigned every employee to a workforce group, or left this field blank. This helps ensure the Commission will be able to use your workforce groups in future research, reports and publications.

Advice on rule E_11

If your audit fails the test for rule E_11, the Commission recommends that you revise your audit data. If you can't assign every employee to a workforce group, you should leave this field blank for all employees.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_12 Your organisation reported a workforce group with fewer than 10 active employees

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. In 2023, organisations have the option to segment their employees into multiple distinct workforces using the 'Workforce group' field.

If the workforce groups you designate meet the specifications listed in the audit handbook(opens in a new window), they may be included in future research, reports and publications that include your organisation's audit results.

The Commission checks that each of your workforce group includes at least 10 active employees. This helps ensure the Commission will be able to use your workforce groups in future research, reports and publications.

Advice on rule E_12

If your audit fails the test for rule E_12, the Commission recommends that you revise your audit data. If any of your workforce groups are smaller than 10 employees, you should leave this field blank for all employees.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_13 Your organisation assigned the same occupation code to all employees

The Gender Equality Act establishes seven workplace gender equality indicators. One of these indicators requires analysis of gendered segregation within the workforce. To facilitate this analysis, you need to classify your active employees by their occupation.

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Occupation code' field should contain a code to indicate the occupation of each active employee. Inactive employees should be coded with the value of ‘099888’.

The Commission checks that you have reported employees in more than one occupation group. This helps ensure you have adequate data to support a gendered segregation analysis.

Advice on rule E_13

If your audit fails the test for rule E_13, the Commission will most likely ask you to resubmit.

To avoid this, you should check that you have assigned each active employee to an appropriate occupation code. If you believe it's appropriate for all of your employees to be in the same occupation group, please tell us in the ‘Job and employment data commentary’ field of the ‘Organisation’ dataset.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_14 Your organisation classified one or more active employees under occupation code 099888 (Response inadequately described)

The Gender Equality Act establishes seven workplace gender equality indicators. One of these indicators requires analysis of gendered segregation within the workforce. To facilitate this analysis, you need to classify your active employees by their occupation.

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Occupation code' field should contain a code to indicate the occupation of each active employee.

The special occupation code ‘099888’ is reserved for inactive employees and should not be applied to active employees, without a suitable explanation.

The Commission checks that you have assigned a meaningful occupation code to each active employee. This helps ensure you have adequate data to support a gendered segregation analysis.

Advice on rule E_14

If your audit fails the test for rule E_14, without a suitable reason supplied in the 'Job and employment data commentary' field, the Commission will likely ask you to resubmit. Excluding some of your active employees from your occupational segregation analysis may distort the results.

If you've used code ‘099888’ for a significant number of active employees, the Commission will likely ask you to resubmit. You are expected to make an effort to classify all active employees by occupation.

To avoid this, you should try to assign a meaningful occupation code to each active employee. Industry-specific guidance is available to help you assign occupation codes to your employees consistently and efficiently:

If you're unable to classify all of your active employees using the coding guidance for your industry, you can also review a list of all accepted codes in the workforce reporting template. At minimum, try to classify each employee into one of the eight major occupation groups (noting 'nfd' means 'not further defined'):

  • 100000 Managers nfd
  • 200000 Professionals nfd
  • 300000 Technicians and Trades Workers nfd
  • 400000 Community and Personal Service Workers nfd
  • 500000 Clerical and Administrative Workers nfd
  • 600000 Sales Workers nfd
  • 700000 Machinery Operators and Drivers nfd
  • 800000 Labourers nfd

If you believe it's appropriate for some of your active employees to be unclassified, please tell us in the ‘Job and employment data commentary’ field of the ‘Organisation’ dataset.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_15 Your organisation reported a base salary of -999999 for one or more active employees

The Gender Equality Act establishes seven workplace gender equality indicators. One of these indicators requires analysis of remuneration. To facilitate this analysis, you need to determine the base salary for each of your active employees. There is a special code -999999 available for use for inactive employees only.

The Commission checks that you have reported a meaningful base salary for each active employee. This helps ensure you have adequate data to support a pay equity analysis.

Advice on rule E_15

If your audit fails the test for rule E_15, the Commission will most likely ask you to resubmit.

To avoid this, you should check that you have provided a meaningful base salary figure for all active employees in your employee dataset. If you believe it's appropriate to exclude active employees from your pay equity analysis, please tell us in the 'Remuneration data commentary' field.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_17 Your organisation reported total remuneration of -999999 for one or more active employees

The Gender Equality Act establishes seven workplace gender equality indicators. One of these indicators requires analysis of remuneration. To facilitate this analysis, you need to determine total remuneration for each of your active employees. There is a special code -999999 available for use for inactive employees only.

The Commission checks that you have reported a meaningful total remuneration value for each active employee. This helps ensure you have adequate data to support a pay equity analysis.

Advice on rule E_17

If your audit fails the test for rule E_17, the Commission will most likely ask you to resubmit.

To avoid this, you should check that you have provided a meaningful total remuneration figure for all active employees in your employee dataset. If you believe it's appropriate to exclude active employees from your pay equity analysis, please tell us in the 'Remuneration data commentary' field.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_18 Your organisation reported total remuneration values that were less than base salary plus superannuation

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Total remuneration' field should contain each employee's full-time equivalent annualised salary, plus any other payments made to the employee during the audit reporting period, including annualised, full-time equivalent superannuation. An employee's total remuneration should not be lower than their base salary plus minimum superannuation payments – approximately 10%.

The Commission checks that each employee's total remuneration is greater than or equal to their base salary plus 10% for minimum superannuation. This helps ensure you have correctly calculated each employee's total remuneration, starting from their base salary.

Advice on rule E_18

If your audit fails the test for rule E_18, the Commission recommends will most likely require you to resubmit.

Our gender pay gap calculation tools require that your pay data meets our specifications. You should double-check your data if any employee's total remuneration is less than their base salary plus that employee’s minimum superannuation payments. Please refer to the Remuneration Resources(opens in a new window) page on our website if you aren't sure how to determine someone's annualised full-time equivalent base salary.

If you're unable to resolve this issue, the Commission may exclude some of your audit data from its publications and research. When people visit our Insights Portal(opens in a new window), some sections of your organisation's results may indicate that suitable data was not supplied.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_19 Your organisation reported weekly pay values outside of the expected range

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Weekly pay' field should contain an estimate of an employee's base rate of pay for one week of work at full-time hours, as at the end of the audit reporting period.

An employee's weekly pay should not be lower than what someone would earn in a week working full-time on the national minimum wage. This equates to about $916 in the reporting period commencing 1 July 2024.

The Commission checks that each employee's weekly pay is at least $916. This helps ensure you have correctly converted each employee's pay to a full-time equivalent.

Advice on rule E_19

If your audit fails the test for rule E_19, the Commission recommends that you revise your audit data. Our gender pay gap calculation tools require annualised full-time equivalent pay data. You should double-check your data if any active employee has a weekly pay value below $916. Please refer to the Remuneration Resources(opens in a new window) page on our website if you aren't sure how to determine someone's full-time equivalent weekly pay.

If you're unable to resolve this issue, the Commission may exclude some of your audit data from its publications and research. If you believe some of your employees genuinely had weekly pay below $916, please tell us in the 'Remuneration data commentary' field.

Acceptable explanations may include the following

  • employees below 18 years of age,
  • trainees and apprentices
  • disability employment programs such as employees paid under the Supported Employment Services Award.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_20 Your organisation provided a multi-select list of formal flexible work type values that includes 'Data unavailable'

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Formal flexible work type' field should contain a code to indicate the type(s) of flexible work each employee uses. If an employee uses more than one kind of flexible work arrangement, you should format the selections as a list delimited with vertical bars like this: A|B|C

The value 'Data unavailable' should only be used if your organisation can't provide flexible work type data at this time. If you've provided a list of flexible work types for an employee, it wouldn't make sense for one of those values to be 'Data unavailable'.

The Commission checks that lists of flexible work type codes do not include the value 'Data unavailable'. This helps ensure you haven't made mistakes when preparing your flexible work data.

Advice on rule E_20

If your audit fails the test for rule E_20, the Commission will most likely exclude some of your audit data from its publications and research.

To avoid this, you should remove the value 'Data unavailable' from any lists of cultural identity values. If you believe it's appropriate for a list of flexible work types to include the value 'Data unavailable', please tell us in the 'Flexible work and leave data commentary' field.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_23 Your organisation had a large number of employees who declined to provide their gender

The Gender Equality Act requires audits to be based on gender-disaggregated data. To show progress on the workplace gender equality indicators, you need to conduct a gendered analysis.

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Gender' field should contain a code to indicate the gender of each employee. One of the available codes is P, which designates someone who did not disclose their gender.

The Commission checks that you were able to provide gender data for most of your employees. This helps ensure you have adequate data to support a gendered analysis.

Advice on rule E_23

You are not required to address this issue. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data. When your data is published to our Insights Portal(opens in a new window), some sections will display the message 'Suitable data not supplied'.

Refer to the audit handbook for detail on topic such as:


E_24 Your organisation did not assign a level between 0 and -15 to each employee

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Level' field should contain a number to indicate the level of each employee.

We ask organisations to assign a level to every employee, ranging from 0 to -15.

Due to a reporting platform bug, organisations were able to submit data with level values ranging from -16 to -30. The Commission checks that you have not used these values in your data. This is to ensure our reports will be able to display your audit results correctly.

Advice on rule E_24

You are not required to address this issue. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you do not take action.

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_25 Your organisation left the Career Development Training field blank for one or more employees

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Career development training' field should contain a code to indicate whether each person participated in career development training.

We ask organisations to enter a code for every employee, rather than leaving the field blank. Organisations should use the code DU to signify that this information is not available.

Due to a reporting platform bug, organisations were able to submit data with blanks in this field. The Commission checks that you have entered a value in this field for every employee. This is to ensure our reports will be able to display your audit results correctly.

Advice on rule E_25

You are not required to address this issue. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you do not take action. When your data is published to our Insights Portal(opens in a new window), some sections will display the message 'Suitable data not supplied'.

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_30 Your organisation reported over 30% of employees as senior leaders in the Employee Type field

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The ‘Employee type’ field indicates whether employees are senior leaders or not.

Ensure that only employees with the authority and responsibility for planning, directing and controlling the activities of an organisation, directly or indirectly. This should include the head of your organisation as well as other executives.

This is not intended to include team leaders and managers. Please ensure that you have only listed high-level senior leaders as 'Senior leaders' in your Employee type field.

The Commission checks that less than 30% of employees were marked as senior leaders. This helps ensure that the correct employees have been marked as senior leaders.

Advice on rule E_30

You are not required to address this issue in 2025. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you do not take action.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond.


E_31 Your organisation reported a high proportion of employees as inactive

The Gender Equality Act establishes seven workplace gender equality indicators. Addressing all of these indicators requires analysis of remuneration and occupation. To facilitate this analysis, you need to accurately report each of active employees.

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Active' data field indicates which employees were actively employed at the end of the audit reporting period.

The Commission checks that less than 50% of the employees reported in your Employee dataset are reported as inactive. This helps ensure you have correctly reported your active employees.

Advice on rule E_31

If your audit fails the test for rule E_31, the Commission will most likely ask you to resubmit.

To avoid this, you should check that you included all your employees in your employee dataset, and that you have applied the ‘Active’ field correctly. If you believe it's appropriate for your audit data to report over 50% of employees as inactive, please tell us in the 'Workforce data commentary' field.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_32 Your organisation reported an abnormal number of recruitments

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Exited' field should contain a code to indicate whether each employee exited the organisation during the audit reporting period.

Your organisation listed all employees for which exit data was available (i.e. was not 'DU'), as having the same value ('Y' or 'N') in the 'Exited' field.

Advice on this rule

If your audit fails the test for this rule it may be assessed non-compliant unless an adequate explanation has been provided.

To provide an explanation, complete the 'Job and employment data commentary'(opens in a new window) field in the Organisation dataset.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_33 Your organisation reported an abnormal number of exits

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Exited' field should contain a code to indicate whether each employee exited the organisation during the audit reporting period.

Your organisation listed all employees for which exit data was available (i.e. was not 'DU'), as having the same value ('Y' or 'N') in the 'Exited' field.

Advice on this rule

If your audit fails the test for this rule it may be assessed non-compliant unless an adequate explanation has been provided.

To provide an explanation, complete the 'Job and employment data commentary'(opens in a new window) field in the Organisation dataset.

For further information and guidance, refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for:


E_34 Your organisation reported abnormal or suspect base salary values for some employees

The Gender Equality Act establishes seven workplace gender equality indicators. One of these indicators requires analysis of remuneration. To facilitate this analysis, you need to determine the base salary for each of your active employees. There is a special code ‘-999999’ available for use for inactive employees only, and rules that check for base salaries below minimum wage.

The Commission checks that you have not reported base salaries of exactly $47,600 or $999,999 for active employees. This helps ensure you have reported legitimate base salaries for all active employees.

Advice on rule E_34

If your audit fails the test for rule E_34 without an explanation provided in the 'Remuneration data commentary(opens in a new window)' field in the Organisation dataset, the Commission will most likely ask you to resubmit.

To avoid this, you should check that you have provided a meaningful base salary figure for all active employees in your employee dataset. If you believe that you have active employees with base salaries of exactly $47,600 or $999,999, please tell us in the 'Remuneration data commentary' field.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_35 Your organisation reported abnormal or suspect total remuneration values for some employees

The Gender Equality Act establishes seven workplace gender equality indicators. One of these indicators requires analysis of remuneration. To facilitate this analysis, you need to determine the total remuneration for each of your active employees. There is a special code ‘-999999’ available for use for inactive employees only, and rules that check for total remunerations below minimum wage.

The Commission checks that you have not reported total remunerations of exactly $47,600 or $999,999 for active employees. This helps ensure you have reported legitimate total remunerations for all active employees.

Advice on rule E_35

If your audit fails the test for rule E_35 without an explanation provided in the 'Remuneration data commentary(opens in a new window)' field in the Organisation dataset, the Commission will most likely ask you to resubmit.

To avoid this, you should check that you have provided a meaningful total remuneration figure for all active employees in your employee dataset. If you believe that you have active employees with total remunerations of exactly $47,600 or $999,999, please tell us in the 'Remuneration data commentary' field.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_36 Your organisation reported abnormal or suspect weekly pay values for some employees

Your organisation reported potentially unexpected weekly pay values of exactly minimum wage or $999,999. The weekly minimum wage in the 2025 reporting period was $916.

Advice on this rule

If these are legitimate and apply to five or more active employees, provide an explanation in the 'Remuneration data commentary'(opens in a new window) field in the Organisation dataset.


E_37 Your organisation reported an abnormal number of promotions

Your organisation listed all employees for which promotion data was available (i.e. was not 'DU'), as having the same value ('Y' or 'N') in the 'Promoted' field.

Advice on rule E_37

If your audit fails the test for this rule it may be assessed non-compliant unless an adequate explanation has been provided.

To provide an explanation, complete the 'Job and employment data commentary(opens in a new window)' field in the Organisation dataset.

For further information and guidance, refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for:


E_38 Your organisation reported an abnormal amount of career development training

Your organisation listed all employees for which career development data was available (i.e. was not 'DU'), as having the same value ('Y' or 'N') in the 'Career development training' field.

Advice on rule E_38

If your audit fails the test for this rule it may be assessed non-compliant unless an adequate explanation has been provided.

To provide an explanation, complete the 'Job and employment data commentary(opens in a new window)' field in the Organisation dataset.

For further information and guidance, refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for:


E_39 Your organisation reported an abnormal amount of employees reported with higher duties

Your organisation listed all employees for which higher duties data was available (i.e. was not 'DU'), as having the same value ('Y' or 'N') in the 'Higher duties' field.

Advice on rule E_39

If your audit fails the test for this rule it may be assessed non-compliant unless an adequate explanation has been provided.

To provide an explanation, complete the 'Job and employment data commentary(opens in a new window)' field in the Organisation dataset.

For further information and guidance, refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for:


E_40 Your organisation reported an abnormal amount of employees reported with internal secondments

Your organisation listed all employees for which secondments data was available (i.e. was not 'DU'), as having the same value ('Y' or 'N') in the 'Internal secondment' field.

Advice on rule E_40

If your audit fails the test for this rule it may be assessed non-compliant unless an adequate explanation has been provided.

To provide an explanation, complete the 'Job and employment data commentary(opens in a new window)' field in the Organisation dataset.

For further information and guidance, refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for:


E_41 Your organisation reported an abnormal amount of employees reported with formal flexible work arrangements

Your organisation listed all employees for which formal flexible work arrangements data was available (i.e. was not 'DU'), as having the same value ('Y' or 'N') in the 'Formal flexible work arrangement' field.

Advice on rule E_41

If your audit fails the test for this rule it may be assessed non-compliant unless an adequate explanation has been provided.

To provide an explanation, complete the 'Job and employment data commentary(opens in a new window)' field in the Organisation dataset.

For further information and guidance, refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for:


E_42 Your organisation reported paid parental leave amounts of over 52 weeks for some employees

The Gender Equality Act establishes seven workplace gender equality indicators. One of these indicators requires analysis of availability and utilisation of terms, conditions and practices relating to working arrangements supporting employees with family or caring responsibilities. To facilitate this analysis, you need to determine the weeks of paid parental leave taken by each of your employees.

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Weeks of paid parental leave' data field indicates how many weeks of paid parental leave for an entitlement to parental leave ending within the reporting period that an employee took.

The Commission checks that you have not reported over 52 weeks of paid parental leave for any employees. This helps ensure you have accurate data to support analysis of parental leave utilisation.

Advice on rule E_42

You are not required to address this issue in 2025. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you do not take action. When your data is published to our Insights Portal(opens in a new window), some sections will display the message 'Suitable data not supplied'.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_43 Your organisation reported unpaid parental leave amounts of over 104 weeks (2 years) for some employees

The Gender Equality Act establishes seven workplace gender equality indicators. One of these indicators requires analysis of availability and utilisation of terms, conditions and practices relating to working arrangements supporting employees with family or caring responsibilities. To facilitate this analysis, you need to determine the weeks of unpaid parental leave taken by each of your employees.

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Weeks of unpaid parental leave' data field indicates how many weeks of unpaid parental leave for an entitlement to parental leave ending within the reporting period that an employee took.

The Commission checks that you have not reported over 104 weeks of unpaid parental leave for any employees. This helps ensure you have accurate data to support analysis of parental leave utilisation.

Advice on rule E_43

You are not required to address this issue in 2025. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you do not take action. When your data is published to our Insights Portal(opens in a new window), some sections will display the message 'Suitable data not supplied'.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_44 Your organisation reported no employees who took either paid or unpaid parental leave

The Gender Equality Act establishes seven workplace gender equality indicators. One of these indicators requires analysis of availability and utilisation of terms, conditions and practices relating to working arrangements supporting employees with family or caring responsibilities. To facilitate this analysis, you need to determine the weeks of unpaid parental leave taken by each of your employees.

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Weeks of paid parental leave' and 'Weeks of unpaid parental leave' data fields indicate how many weeks of parental leave for an entitlement to parental leave ending within the reporting period that an employee took.

The Commission checks that you have reported at least one employee as having taken some parental leave. This helps ensure you have sufficient data to support analysis of parental leave utilisation.

Advice on rule E_44

You are not required to address this issue in 2025. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you do not take action. When your data is published to our Insights Portal(opens in a new window), some sections will display the message 'Suitable data not supplied'.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_45 Your organisation did not include any inactive employees in its submission

The Gender Equality Act establishes seven workplace gender equality indicators. Addressing these indicators requires analysis of data for all employees employed by your organisation at any point within the reporting period. To facilitate this analysis, you need to accurately report all employees who were employed by your organisation at any point within the reporting period.

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Active' data field indicates which employees were actively employed at the end of the audit reporting period.

The Commission checks that you reported any inactive employees in your Employee dataset. This helps ensure you have correctly reported all your employees from within the reporting period

Advice on rule E_45

If your audit fails the test for rule E_45, the Commission will most likely ask you to resubmit.

To avoid this, you should check that you included all your employees in your employee dataset, and that you have applied the ‘Active’ field correctly. If you believe it's appropriate for your audit data to contain no inactive employees, please tell us in the 'Workforce data commentary' field.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_46 Your organisation did not report its head of organisation as a senior leader

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Level' field should contain a number to indicate the level of each employee. The value 0 should be reserved for your organisation's CEO or equivalent head of organisation. The ‘Employee type’ field indicates whether employees are senior leaders or not.

Senior leaders include employees with the authority and responsibility for planning, directing and controlling the activities of an organisation, directly or indirectly. This should include the head of your organisation as well as other executives.

The Commission checks that your head of organisation, marked with Level 0 is marked as a senior leader. This helps ensure that the correct employees have been marked as senior leaders.

Advice on rule E_46

You are not required to address this issue in 2025. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you do not take action.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond.


E_47 Your organisation reported base salary values well below the full-time minimum wage

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Base salary' field should contain each employee's full-time equivalent annualised salary, as at the end of the audit reporting period.

An employee's base salary should not be lower than what someone would earn in a year working full-time on the national minimum wage. This equates to about $47,600 over the reporting period commencing 1 July 2024.

Additionally, an employee's total remuneration should not be lower than their base salary. The 'Total remuneration' field should contain each employee's full-time equivalent annualised salary, plus any other payments made to the employee during the audit reporting period.

Organisations don't need to provide base salary for inactive employees. There is a special code -999999 available for use for inactive employees only.

For this rule the Commission checks that you have reported a base salary value above $30,000 for each active employee.

Advice on rule E_47

If your audit fails the test for rule E_47, the Commission will most likely ask you to resubmit.

To avoid this, you should check that you have reported annualised, full-time equivalent base salary figures for all active employees in your employee dataset. If you believe that you have active employees annualised, full-time equivalent base salaries below $30,000, please tell us in the 'Remuneration data commentary' field.

Common issues leading to this issue include:

  • Failure to convert base salaries to full-time equivalent for part-time and casual employees
  • Failure to annualise base salaries for employees who did not work for the entire reporting period
  • Inclusion of non-employees who are not paid a standard salary in the Employee dataset. Eg. Board members or contractors.

If you respond to this issue by providing the requested commentary, but do not make any other changes to your data, the issue will continue to appear in the Data Quality report on the reporting platform. The Commission will review your commentary when assessing the impact of this issue on your audit's compliance.

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_48 Your organisation reported base salary values outside of the expected range for some active employees

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Base salary' field should contain each employee's full-time equivalent annualised salary, as at the end of the audit reporting period.

An employee's base salary should not be lower than what someone would earn in a year working full-time on the national minimum wage. This equates to about $47,600 over the reporting period commencing 1 July 2024.

Additionally, an employee's total remuneration should not be lower than their base salary. The 'Total remuneration' field should contain each employee's full-time equivalent annualised salary, plus any other payments made to the employee during the audit reporting period.

Organisations don't need to provide base salary for inactive employees. There is a special code -999999 available for use for inactive employees only.

For this rule the Commission checks that you have reported a base salary value above $47,600 for each active employee, and that no more than 9 employees have salaries below $47,600.

Advice on rule E_48

If your audit fails the test for rule E_48, the Commission may exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data. When your data is published to our Insights Portal(opens in a new window), some sections will display the message 'Suitable data not supplied'.

To avoid this, you should check that you have reported annualised, full-time equivalent base salary figures for all active employees in your employee dataset. If you believe that you have active employees annualised, full-time equivalent base salaries below $47,600, please provide a suitable explanation in the 'Remuneration data commentary' field.

Common issues leading to this issue include:

  • You may have trainees or apprentices who are genuinely paid below the minimum wage. If you have employees genuinely paid below the minimum wage please provide a suitable explanation in the 'Remuneration data commentary' field, identifying the employees by Unique ID.
  • Failure to convert base salaries to full-time equivalent for part-time and casual employees
  • Failure to annualise base salaries for employees who did not work for the entire reporting period
  • Inclusion of non-employees who are not paid a standard salary in the Employee dataset. Eg. Board members or contractors.

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_49 Your organisation reported base salary values outside of the expected range for a significant number of active employees

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Base salary' field should contain each employee's full-time equivalent annualised salary, as at the end of the audit reporting period.

An employee's base salary should not be lower than what someone would earn in a year working full-time on the national minimum wage. This equates to about $47,600 over the reporting period commencing 1 July 2024.

Additionally, an employee's total remuneration should not be lower than their base salary. The 'Total remuneration' field should contain each employee's full-time equivalent annualised salary, plus any other payments made to the employee during the audit reporting period.

Organisations don't need to provide base salary for inactive employees. There is a special code -999999 available for use for inactive employees only.

For this rule the Commission checks that you have reported a base salary value above $47,600 for each active employee, and that less than 10 employees have salaries below $47,600.

Advice on rule E_49

If your audit fails the test for rule E_49 without an explanation provided in the 'Remuneration data commentary' field in the Organisation dataset, the Commission will most likely ask you to resubmit.

To avoid this, you should check that you have reported annualised, full-time equivalent base salary figures for all active employees in your employee dataset. If you believe that you have active employees annualised, full-time equivalent base salaries below $47,600, please provide a suitable explanation in the 'Remuneration data commentary' field.

Common issues leading to this issue include:

  • You may have trainees or apprentices who are genuinely paid below the minimum wage. If you have employees genuinely paid below the minimum wage please provide a suitable explanation in the 'Remuneration data commentary' field, identifying the employees by Unique ID.
  • Failure to convert base salaries to full-time equivalent for part-time and casual employees
  • Failure to annualise base salaries for employees who did not work for the entire reporting period
  • Inclusion of non-employees who are not paid a standard salary in the Employee dataset. Eg. Board members or contractors.

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_50 Your organisation reported exceptionally high base salary values for some active employees

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Base salary' field should contain each employee's full-time equivalent annualised salary, as at the end of the audit reporting period.

An employee's base salary should only include payments that are part of an employee's regular salary and not include additional payments such as superannuation.

Additionally, an employee's total remuneration should not be lower than their base salary. The 'Total remuneration' field should contain each employee's full-time equivalent annualised salary, plus any other payments made to the employee during the audit reporting period.

Organisations don't need to provide base salary for inactive employees. There is a special code -999999 available for use for inactive employees only.

For this rule the Commission checks that you have not reported a base salary value above $1,000,000 for each active employee. This helps ensure you have reported legitimate base salaries for all active employees.

Advice on rule E_50

If your audit fails the test for rule E_50 without an explanation provided in the 'Remuneration data commentary(opens in a new window)' field in the Organisation dataset, the Commission will most likely ask you to resubmit.

To avoid this, you should check that you have included the correct payments in reported base salaries for all active employees in your employee dataset. For examples of what payments should and should not be included in base salary please review the audit handbook(opens in a new window).

If you believe that you have active employees annualised, full-time equivalent base salaries above $1,000,000 please provide a suitable explanation in the 'Remuneration data commentary' field.

Common issues leading to this issue include:

  • Including the incorrect payments from executive packages
  • Errors in calculating annualised, full-time equivalent base salary. Eg. Misplaced decimal places.
  • Data entry errors
  • Inclusion of non-employees who are not paid a standard salary in the Employee dataset. Eg. Contractors with exceptionally high hourly/day rates.

If you revise your submission, the reporting platform's Data Quality Review report can help you confirm you've addressed this issue. To view it, log into the reporting platform(opens in a new window) and navigate to Reports > Review. Please note that if you address this issue by providing commentary it will continue to appear in the Data Quality Review report. If you have provided sufficient information you can disregard this issue in the report and it will be checked by the Commission during compliance checking. Please note that if you address this issue by providing commentary it will continue to appear in the Data Quality Review report. If you have provided sufficient information you can disregard this issue in the report and it will be checked by the Commission during compliance checking.

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_DG_07 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include full-time equivalent (FTE) data

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Full-time equivalent (FTE)' data field is required for all active employees in 2025.

The Commission checks whether your organisation made correct use of this field.

Advice on this rule

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_DG_08 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include employee type data

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Employee type' data field is required from 2025.

The Commission checks whether your organisation made use of this field.

Advice on rule E_DG_08

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_DG_09 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include recruitments data

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Recruitments' data field is required from 2025.

The Commission checks whether your organisation made use of this field.

Advice on rule E_DG_09

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_DG_10 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include exits data

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Exited' data field is required from 2025.

The Commission checks whether your organisation made use of this field.

Advice on rule E_DG_10

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_DG_13 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include promotions data

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Promoted' data field is required from 2025.

The Commission checks whether your organisation made use of this field.

Advice on rule E_DG_13

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_DG_14 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include career development training data

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Career development training' data field is required from 2025.

The Commission checks whether your organisation made use of this field.

Advice on rule E_DG_14

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_DG_15 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include higher duties data

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Higher duties' data field is required from 2025.

The Commission checks whether your organisation made use of this field.

Advice on rule E_DG_15

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_DG_16 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include internal secondment data

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Internal secondment' data field is required from 2025.

The Commission checks whether your organisation made use of this field.

Advice on rule E_DG_16

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_DG_17 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include formal flexible work arrangement data

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Formal flexible work arrangement' data field is required from 2025.

The Commission checks whether your organisation made use of this field.

Advice on rule E_DG_17

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_DG_18 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include formal flexible work type data

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Formal flexible work type' data field is required from 2025.

The Commission checks whether your organisation made use of this field.

Advice on rule E_DG_18

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_DG_19 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include paid parental leave data

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Weeks of paid parental leave' data field is required from 2025.

The Commission checks whether your organisation made use of this field.

Advice on rule E_DG_19

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_DG_20 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include unpaid parental leave data

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Weeks of unpaid parental leave' data field is required from 2025.

The Commission checks whether your organisation made use of this field.

Advice on rule E_DG_20

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_DG_21 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include parental leave exit type data

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Parental leave exit type' data field is required from 2025.

The Commission checks whether your organisation made use of this field.

Advice on rule E_DG_21

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_DG_22 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include carers leave data

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Accessed carers leave' data field is required from 2025.

The Commission checks whether your organisation made use of this field.

Advice on rule E_DG_22

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_ID_07 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include full-time equivalent (FTE) data for most employees

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Full-time equivalent (FTE)' data field must contain valid data for all active employees. For inactive employees, the data should be either reported as at the end of their employment or left blank.

The Commission checks whether your organisation had this data available for 80% of your workforce or more.

Advice on rule E_ID_07

You are not required to address this issue. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data.

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_ID_08 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include employee type data for most employees

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Employee type' data field is required from 2025. Organisations may have this data available for some employees but not others.

The Commission checks whether your organisation had this data available for 80% of your workforce or more.

Advice on rule E_ID_08

You are not required to address this issue in 2025. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond.

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_ID_09 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include recruitments data for most employees

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Recruited' data field is required from 2025. Organisations may have this data available for some employees but not others.

The Commission checks whether your organisation had this data available for 80% of your workforce or more.

Advice on rule E_ID_09

You are not required to address this issue in 2025. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data. When your data is published to our Insights Portal(opens in a new window), some sections will display the message 'Suitable data not supplied'.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_ID_10 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include exits data for most employees

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Exited' data field is required from 2025. Organisations may have this data available for some employees but not others.

The Commission checks whether your organisation had this data available for 80% of your workforce or more.

Advice on rule E_ID_10

You are not required to address this issue in 2025. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data. When your data is published to our Insights Portal(opens in a new window), some sections will display the message 'Suitable data not supplied'.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_ID_13 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include promotions data for most employees

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Promoted' data field is required from 2025. Organisations may have this data available for some employees but not others.

The Commission checks whether your organisation had this data available for 80% of your workforce or more.

Advice on rule E_ID_13

You are not required to address this issue in 2025. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data. When your data is published to our Insights Portal(opens in a new window), some sections will display the message 'Suitable data not supplied'.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_ID_14 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include career development training data for most employees

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Career development training' data field is required from 2025. Organisations may have this data available for some employees but not others.

The Commission checks whether your organisation had this data available for 80% of your workforce or more.

Advice on rule E_ID_14

You are not required to address this issue 2025. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data. When your data is published to our Insights Portal(opens in a new window), some sections will display the message 'Suitable data not supplied'.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_ID_15 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include higher duties data for most employees

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Higher duties' data field is required from 2025. Organisations may have this data available for some employees but not others.

The Commission checks whether your organisation had this data available for 80% of your workforce or more.

Advice on rule E_ID_15

You are not required to address this issue in 2025. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data. When your data is published to our Insights Portal(opens in a new window), some sections will display the message 'Suitable data not supplied'.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_ID_16 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include internal secondment data for most employees

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Internal secondment' data field is required from 2025. Organisations may have this data available for some employees but not others.

The Commission checks whether your organisation had this data available for 80% of your workforce or more.

Advice on rule E_ID_16

You are not required to address this issue in 2025. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data. When your data is published to our Insights Portal(opens in a new window), some sections will display the message 'Suitable data not supplied'.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_ID_17 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include formal flexible work arrangement data for most active employees

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Formal flexible work arrangement' data field is required from 2025. Organisations may have this data available for some employees but not others.

The Commission checks whether your organisation had this data available for 80% of your active workforce or more.

Advice on rule E_ID_17

You are not required to address this issue. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data. When your data is published to our Insights Portal(opens in a new window), some sections will display the message 'Suitable data not supplied'.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_ID_18 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include formal flexible work type data for most active employees

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Formal flexible work type' data field is required from 2025. Organisations may have this data available for some employees but not others.

The Commission checks whether your organisation had this data available for 80% of your active workforce or more.

Advice on rule E_ID_18

You are not required to address this issue. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


E_ID_19 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include paid parental leave data for most employees

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Weeks of paid parental leave' data field is required from 2025. Organisations may have this data available for some employees but not others.

The Commission checks whether your organisation had this data available for 80% of your workforce or more.

Advice on rule E_ID_19

You are not required to address this issue. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data. When your data is published to our Insights Portal(opens in a new window), some sections will display the message 'Suitable data not supplied'.

If you wish to address this issue, check that you've used the code -999999 only when you're unable to determine how much paid parental leave a person took. If an employee did not any paid parental leave ending in the 12-month audit reporting period, enter it as 0.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_ID_20 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include unpaid parental leave data for most employees

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Weeks of unpaid parental leave' data field is required from 2025. Organisations may have this data available for some employees but not others.

The Commission checks whether your organisation had this data available for 80% of your workforce or more.

Advice on rule E_ID_20

You are not required to address this issue. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data. When your data is published to our Insights Portal(opens in a new window), some sections will display the message 'Suitable data not supplied'.

If you wish to address this issue, check that you've used the code -999999 only when you're unable to determine how much unpaid parental leave a person took. If an employee did not any unpaid parental leave ending in the 12-month audit reporting period, enter it as 0.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_ID_21 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include parental leave exit type data for most employees

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Parental leave exit type' data field is required from 2025. Organisations may have this data available for some employees but not others.

The Commission checks whether your organisation had this data available for 80% of your workforce or more.

Advice on rule E_ID_21

You are not required to address this issue in 2025. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


E_ID_22 Your organisation's employee dataset does not include carers leave data for most employees

Each row in the employee dataset represents one employee at your organisation. The 'Accessed carers leave' data field is required from 2025. Organisations may have this data available for some employees but not others.

The Commission checks whether your organisation had this data available for 80% of your workforce or more.

Advice on rule E_ID_22

You are not required to address this issue in 2025. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook (opens in a new window)for detail on topic such as:


EED_01 Your organisation did not provide employee experience data where expected

Most organisations with obligations under the Gender Equality Act 2020 are required to report on their gender equality progress to the Public Sector Gender Equality Commissioner every 2 years. The Gender Equality Regulations 2020 clarify that this includes a progress audit.

Best practice is to collect 2 types of data for your progress audit:

  • Workforce data, which is taken from your internal data collection systems; and
  • Employee experience data, which comes from an employee experience survey.

Employee experience survey data complements workforce data. Collecting it helps ensure that your organisation will have enough data to assess progress against each of the 7 workplace gender equality indicators. This data enables organisations to better understand the varied experiences of different gender groups within their workforce. It's particularly valuable in areas such as sexual harassment or discrimination, where formal records may not exist or may systematically underrepresent an issue.

The Commission checks whether your submission includes employee experience data.

Advice on rule EED_01

You are not required to address this issue. When your data is published to our Insights Portal(opens in a new window), some sections will display the message 'Suitable data not supplied'.


EED_SI_01 Your organisation's employee experience data does not appear to meet the specifications

Please refer to your organisation's audit feedback report for detail about this rule.

Advice on rule EED_SI_01

You are not required to address this issue. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you do not take action. When your data is published to our Insights Portal(opens in a new window), some sections will display the message 'Suitable data not supplied'.


EED_DG_01 Your organisation's employee experience data does not include reportable results

Each row in the employee experience dataset represents a measure calculated from your organisation's employee experience survey results. For example, one measure might be the proportion of each gender group that agreed with the statement 'I feel safe to challenge inappropriate behaviour at work'.

Best practice is to report these aggregated results only when certain anonymisation conditions are met. For example, if you received fewer than 10 responses from a gender group, results for that group shouldn't be reported. This is captured within the employee experience reporting template by entering the code 'N'.

The Commission checks whether your submission includes any reportable employee experience survey results.


Governing body dataset

GB_01 Your organisation did not provide governing body data where expected

The Gender Equality Act establishes seven workplace gender equality indicators. One of these indicators requires analysis of the gender composition of your organisation's governing body. To facilitate this analysis, the workforce reporting template includes space to record information about each member of your governing body.

A governing body is the most senior group of people governing the operations of an organisation, such as the board, elected councillors (for local government), or executive committee of management.

Most organisations have a governing body. If your organisation has a governing body, each row in the governing body dataset should represent one governing body member.

The Commission checks that you have either:

  • provided governing body data;
  • attested that your organisation has no governing body; or
  • noted that this data is unavailable for some other reason.

Advice on rule GB_01

If your audit fails the test for rule GB_01, the Commission may ask you to resubmit. To avoid this, you should either provide data on your governing body, or use the 'Governing body data availability' field to let the Commission know that you have left this dataset intentionally blank.

If your organisation has a governing body, but you believe it's appropriate to exclude governing body members from your audit, please tell us in the 'Governing body data commentary' field.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


GB_02 Your organisation assigned the same member type to all of its governing body members

Each row in the governing body dataset represents one governing body member at your organisation. The 'Governing body member type' field should contain a code to indicate which governing body member is the chair of the body. This is a mandatory field, so you need to determine the right code for each governing body member.

The Commission checks that you have reported at least one of each type of governing body member. This helps ensure our systems will be able to interpret your submission correctly.

Advice on rule GB_02

If your audit fails the test for rule GB_02, the Commission will most likely exclude some of your audit data from its publications and research.

To avoid this, you should check that you have assigned an accurate governing body member code to each person. If you believe it's appropriate for all of your governing body members to be the same member type, please tell us in the 'Governing body data commentary' field.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


GB_03 Your organisation reported an unexpected number of governing body chairs

Each row in the governing body dataset represents one governing body member at your organisation. The 'Governing body member type' field should contain a code to indicate which governing body member is the chair of the body. This is a mandatory field, so you need to determine the right code for each governing body member.

The Commission checks that you have reported exactly one governing body chair. This helps ensure you have included the right group of people in your governing body dataset.

Advice on rule GB_03

If your audit fails the test for rule GB_03, the Commission will most likely exclude some of your audit data from its publications and research.

To avoid this, you should check that you have assigned an accurate governing body member code to each person. If you believe it's appropriate for your organisation to exclude your governing body chair from your dataset, or to have more than one governing body chair, please tell us in the 'Governing body data commentary' field.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


GB_04 All of the governing body members your organisation reported are of the same gender

The Gender Equality Act requires audits to be based on gender-disaggregated data. To show progress on the workplace gender equality indicators, you need to conduct a gendered analysis.

Each row in the governing body dataset represents one governing body member at your organisation. The 'Gender' field should contain a code to indicate the gender of each governing body member.

The Commission checks that you have reported governing body members in multiple gender groups. This helps ensure you have adequate data to support a gendered analysis.

Advice on rule GB_04

If your audit fails the test for rule GB_04, the Commission may ask you to resubmit. We will most likely exclude some of your audit data from its publications and research.

To avoid this, you should attempt to collect gender data for all governing body members in your dataset. If you believe it's appropriate for all of your governing body members to be in the same gender group, please tell us in the 'Governing body data commentary' field.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


GB_05 Your organisation provided a multi-select list of governing body member cultural identity values that includes 'Data unavailable'

Each row in the governing body dataset represents one governing body member at your organisation. The 'Cultural identity' field should contain a code to indicate each governing body member's cultural identity. If a governing body member has more than one cultural identity, you should format the selections as a list delimited with vertical bars like this: A|B|C

The value 'Data unavailable' should only be used if your organisation can't provide cultural identity data at this time. If you've provided a list of cultural identities for a governing body member, it wouldn't make sense for one of those values to be 'Data unavailable'.

The Commission checks that lists of cultural identity codes do not include the value 'Data unavailable'. This helps ensure you haven't made mistakes when preparing your cultural identity data.

Advice on rule GB_05

If your audit fails the test for rule GB_05, the Commission will most likely exclude some of your audit data from its publications and research.

To avoid this, you should remove the value 'Data unavailable' from any lists of cultural identity values. If you believe it's appropriate for a list of cultural identities to include the value 'Data unavailable', please tell us in the 'Governing body data commentary' field.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


Sexual harassment complaints dataset

SHC_01 Your organisation did not provide sexual harassment complaints data where expected

The Gender Equality Act establishes seven workplace gender equality indicators. One of these indicators requires analysis of sexual harassment in the workplace. To facilitate this analysis, the workforce reporting template includes space to record information about each formal complaint of sexual harassment.

Add a row to the sexual harassment complaints dataset for each formal complaint registered within the audit reporting period. Capture any complaint related to an incident in your workplace or as a part of external workplace activities.

The Commission checks that you have either:

  • provided sexual harassment complaint data;
  • attested that your organisation had no sexual harassment complaints during the 12-month audit reporting period; or
  • noted that this data is unavailable for some other reason.

Advice on rule SHC_01

If your audit fails the test for rule SHC_01, the Commission may ask you to resubmit. To avoid this, you should either provide data on your organisation's sexual harassment complaints, or use the 'Sexual harassment complaints data availability' field to let the Commission know that you have left this dataset intentionally blank.

If there were formal complaints of sexual harassment in your workplace, but you believe it's appropriate to exclude this data from your audit, please tell us in the 'Sexual harassment complaints data commentary' field.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_02 Your organisation tried to provide Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander data for a group of complainants

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation.

The 'Number of complainants' field is used to capture the number of people who made the complaint. Unless a group of complainants filed a single complaint together, you should enter 1 in this field. The workforce reporting template does not currently support inclusion of demographic data for groups of complainants.

The Commission checks that you have used the value 'Data unavailable' in the 'Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (Complainant)' field for any complaints with multiple complainants. This helps ensure our systems will be able to interpret your submission correctly.

Advice on rule SHC_02

If your audit fails the test for rule SHC_02, the Commission will most likely exclude some of your audit data from its publications and research.

To avoid this, you should use the value 'Data unavailable' in the 'Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (Complainant)' field for any complaints with multiple complainants.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_03 Your organisation tried to provide Age data for a group of complainants

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation.

The 'Number of complainants' field is used to capture the number of people who made the complaint. Unless a group of complainants filed a single complaint together, you should enter 1 in this field. The workforce reporting template does not currently support inclusion of demographic data for groups of complainants.

The Commission checks that you have used the value 'Data unavailable' in the 'Age (Complainant)' field for any complaints with multiple complainants. This helps ensure our systems will be able to interpret your submission correctly.

Advice on rule SHC_03

If your audit fails the test for rule SHC_03, the Commission will most likely exclude some of your audit data from its publications and research.

To avoid this, you should use the value 'Data unavailable' in the 'Age (Complainant)' field for any complaints with multiple complainants.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_04 Your organisation tried to provide Cultural identity data for a group of complainants

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation.

The 'Number of complainants' field is used to capture the number of people who made the complaint. Unless a group of complainants filed a single complaint together, you should enter 1 in this field. The workforce reporting template does not currently support inclusion of demographic data for groups of complainants.

The Commission checks that you have used the value 'Data unavailable' in the 'Cultural identity (Complainant)' field for any complaints with multiple complainants. This helps ensure our systems will be able to interpret your submission correctly.

Advice on rule SHC_04

If your audit fails the test for rule SHC_04, the Commission will most likely exclude some of your audit data from its publications and research.

To avoid this, you should use the value 'Data unavailable' in the 'Cultural identity (Complainant)' field for any complaints with multiple complainants.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_05 Your organisation provided a multi-select list of sexual harassment complainant cultural identity values that includes 'Data unavailable'

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation. The 'Cultural identity' field should contain a code to indicate each complainant's cultural identity. If a complainant has more than one cultural identity, you should format the selections as a list delimited with vertical bars like this: A|B|C

The value 'Data unavailable' should only be used if your organisation can't provide cultural identity data at this time. If you've provided a list of cultural identities for a complainant, it wouldn't make sense for one of those values to be 'Data unavailable'.

The Commission checks that lists of cultural identity codes do not include the value 'Data unavailable'. This helps ensure you haven't made mistakes when preparing your cultural identity data.

Advice on rule SHC_05

If your audit fails the test for rule SHC_05, the Commission will most likely exclude some of your audit data from its publications and research.

To avoid this, you should remove the value 'Data unavailable' from any lists of cultural identity values. If you believe it's appropriate for a list of cultural identities to include the value 'Data unavailable', please tell us in the 'Sexual harassment data commentary' field.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_06 Your organisation tried to provide Disability data for a group of complainants

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation.

The 'Number of complainants' field is used to capture the number of people who made the complaint. Unless a group of complainants filed a single complaint together, you should enter 1 in this field. The workforce reporting template does not currently support inclusion of demographic data for groups of complainants.

The Commission checks that you have used the value 'Data unavailable' in the 'Disability status (Complainant)' field for any complaints with multiple complainants. This helps ensure our systems will be able to interpret your submission correctly.

Advice on rule SHC_06

If your audit fails the test for rule SHC_06, the Commission will most likely exclude some of your audit data from its publications and research.

To avoid this, you should use the value 'Data unavailable' in the 'Disability status (Complainant)' field for any complaints with multiple complainants.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_07 Your organisation tried to provide Religion data for a group of complainants

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation.

The 'Number of complainants' field is used to capture the number of people who made the complaint. Unless a group of complainants filed a single complaint together, you should enter 1 in this field. The workforce reporting template does not currently support inclusion of demographic data for groups of complainants.

The Commission checks that you have used the value 'Data unavailable' in the 'Religion (Complainant)' field for any complaints with multiple complainants. This helps ensure our systems will be able to interpret your submission correctly.

Advice on rule SHC_07

If your audit fails the test for rule SHC_07, the Commission will most likely exclude some of your audit data from its publications and research.

To avoid this, you should use the value 'Data unavailable' in the 'Religion (Complainant)' field for any complaints with multiple complainants.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_08 Your organisation tried to provide Sexual orientation data for a group of complainants

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation.

The 'Number of complainants' field is used to capture the number of people who made the complaint. Unless a group of complainants filed a single complaint together, you should enter 1 in this field. The workforce reporting template does not currently support inclusion of demographic data for groups of complainants.

The Commission checks that you have used the value 'Data unavailable' in the 'Sexual orientation (Complainant)' field for any complaints with multiple complainants. This helps ensure our systems will be able to interpret your submission correctly.

Advice on rule SHC_08

If your audit fails the test for rule SHC_08, the Commission will most likely exclude some of your audit data from its publications and research.

To avoid this, you should use the value 'Data unavailable' in the 'Sexual orientation (Complainant)' field for any complaints with multiple complainants.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_09 Your organisation provided a multi-select list of sexual harassment complaint outcome values that includes 'Data unavailable'

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation. The 'Complaint outcomes' field should contain a code to indicate the outcomes of the complaint. If a complainant has more than one outcome, you should format the selections as a list delimited with vertical bars like this: A|B|C

The value 'Data unavailable' should only be used if your organisation can't provide outcome data at this time. If you've provided a list of outcomes for a complaint, it wouldn't make sense for one of those values to be 'Data unavailable'.

The Commission checks that lists of outcome codes do not include the value 'Data unavailable'. This helps ensure you haven't made mistakes when preparing your complaint outcomes data.

Advice on rule SHC_09

If your audit fails the test for rule SHC_09, the Commission will most likely exclude some of your audit data from its publications and research.

To avoid this, you should remove the value 'Data unavailable' from any lists of outcomes. If you believe it's appropriate for a list of outcomes to include the value 'Data unavailable', please tell us in the 'Sexual harassment data commentary' field.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_SI_00 Your organisation's sexual harassment complaints dataset does not appear to meet the specifications

Please refer to your organisations audit feedback report for detail about this rule.

Advice on rule SHC_SI_00

You are not required to address this issue. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you do not take action.


SHC_DG_01 Your organisation's sexual harassment complaints dataset does not include complainant counts

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation. The 'Number of complainants' data field is required from 2025.

The Commission checks whether your organisation made use of this field.

Advice on rule SHC_DG_01

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_DG_02 Your organisation's sexual harassment complaints dataset does not include complainant gender data

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation. The 'Gender (Complainant)' data field is required from 2025.

The Commission checks whether your organisation made use of this field.

Advice on rule SHC_DG_02

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_DG_09 Your organisation's sexual harassment complaints dataset does not include complainant type data

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation. The 'Complainant type' data field is required from 2025.

The Commission checks whether your organisation made use of this field.

Advice on rule SHC_DG_09

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_DG_10 Your organisation's sexual harassment complaints dataset does not include complainant relationship to incident data

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation. The 'Complainant relationship to incident' data field is required from 2025.

The Commission checks whether your organisation made use of this field.

Advice on rule SHC_DG_10

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_DG_11 Your organisation's sexual harassment complaints dataset does not include respondent counts

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation. The 'Number of respondents' data field is required from 2025.

The Commission checks whether your organisation made use of this field.

Advice on rule SHC_DG_11

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_DG_12 Your organisation's sexual harassment complaints dataset does not include respondent gender data

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation. The 'Gender (Respondent)' data field is required from 2025.

The Commission checks whether your organisation made use of this field.

Advice on rule SHC_DG_12

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_DG_13 Your organisation's sexual harassment complaints dataset does not include respondent relationship to complainant data

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation. The 'Respondent relationship to complainant' data field is required from 2025.

The Commission checks whether your organisation made use of this field.

Advice on rule SHC_DG_13

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_DG_14 Your organisation's sexual harassment complaints dataset does not include complaint outcomes data

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation. The 'Complaint outcomes' data field is required from 2025.

The Commission checks whether your organisation made use of this field.

Advice on rule SHC_DG_14

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_DG_15 Your organisation's sexual harassment complaints dataset does not include handling method data

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation. The 'Handling method' data field is required from 2025.

The Commission checks whether your organisation made use of this field.

Advice on rule SHC_DG_15

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_DG_16 Your organisation's sexual harassment complaints dataset does not include complainant satisfaction data

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation. The 'Complainant satisfaction' data field is required from 2025.

The Commission checks whether your organisation made use of this field.

Advice on rule SHC_DG_16

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_ID_01 Your organisation's sexual harassment complaints dataset does not include complainant counts for most complaints

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation. The 'Number of complainants' data field is required from 2025. Organisations may have this data available for some complaints but not others.

The Commission checks whether your organisation had this data available for 80% of your complaints or more.

Advice on rule SHC_ID_01

You are not required to address this issue in 2025. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_ID_02 Your organisation's sexual harassment complaints dataset does not include complainant gender data for most complaints

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation. The 'Gender (Complainant)' data field is required from 2025. Organisations may have this data available for some complaints but not others.

The Commission checks whether your organisation had this data available for 80% of your complaints or more.

Advice on rule SHC_ID_02

You are not required to address this issue in 2025. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_ID_08 Your organisation's sexual harassment complaints dataset does not include sexual orientation data for most complaints


SHC_ID_09 Your organisation's sexual harassment complaints dataset does not include complainant type data for most complaints

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation. The 'Complainant type' data field is required from 2025. Organisations may have this data available for some complaints but not others.

The Commission checks whether your organisation had this data available for 80% of your complaints or more.

Advice on rule SHC_ID_09

You are not required to address this issue in 2025. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_ID_10 Your organisation's sexual harassment complaints dataset does not include complainant relationship to incident data for most complaints

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation. The 'Complainant relationship to incident' data field is required from 2025. Organisations may have this data available for some complaints but not others.

The Commission checks whether your organisation had this data available for 80% of your complaints or more.

Advice on rule SHC_ID_10

You are not required to address this issue in 2025. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_ID_11 Your organisation's sexual harassment complaints dataset does not include respondent counts for most complaints

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation. The 'Number of respondents' data field is required from 2025. Organisations may have this data available for some complaints but not others.

The Commission checks whether your organisation had this data available for 80% of your complaints or more.

Advice on rule SHC_ID_11

You are not required to address this issue in 2025. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_ID_12 Your organisation's sexual harassment complaints dataset does not include respondent gender data for most complaints

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation. The 'Gender (Respondent)' data field is required from 2025. Organisations may have this data available for some complaints but not others.

The Commission checks whether your organisation had this data available for 80% of your complaints or more.

Advice on rule SHC_ID_12

You are not required to address this issue in 2025. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_ID_13 Your organisation's sexual harassment complaints dataset does not include respondent relationship to complainant data for most complaints

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation. The 'Respondent relationship to complainant' data field is required from 2025. Organisations may have this data available for some complaints but not others.

The Commission checks whether your organisation had this data available for 80% of your complaints or more.

Advice on rule SHC_ID_13

You are not required to address this issue in 2025. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_ID_14 Your organisation's sexual harassment complaints dataset does not include complaint outcomes data for most complaints

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation. The 'Complaint outcomes' data field is required from 2025. Organisations may have this data available for some complaints but not others.

The Commission checks whether your organisation had this data available for 80% of your complaints or more.

Advice on rule SHC_ID_14

You are not required to address this issue in 2025. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_ID_15 Your organisation's sexual harassment complaints dataset does not include handling method data for most complaints

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation. The 'Handling method' data field is required from 2025. Organisations may have this data available for some complaints but not others.

The Commission checks whether your organisation had this data available for 80% of your complaints or more.

Advice on rule SHC_ID_15

You are not required to address this issue in 2025. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


SHC_ID_16 Your organisation's sexual harassment complaints dataset does not include complainant satisfaction data for most complaints

Each row in the sexual harassment complaints dataset represents one formal complaint of sexual harassment at your organisation. The 'Complainant satisfaction' data field is required from 2025. Organisations may have this data available for some complaints but not others.

The Commission checks whether your organisation had this data available for 80% of your complaints or more.

Advice on rule SHC_ID_16

You are not required to address this issue in 2025. However, the Commission will exclude some of your audit data from our publications if you are unable to provide more data.

While you do not need to address this issue in 2025, please note that the ‘Data unavailable’ option for this field will be removed from 2027. The Commissioner expects that the newly required fields will be meaningfully and comprehensively populated in your 2027 audit and beyond

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


Family violence leave dataset

FVL_01 Your organisation did not provide family violence leave data where expected

The Gender Equality Act establishes seven workplace gender equality indicators. One of these indicators requires analysis of family violence leave utilisation. To facilitate this analysis, the workforce reporting template includes space to record information about each person who took family violence leave.

Each row of the family violence leave dataset represents one employee who accessed family violence leave at your organisation during the audit reporting period.

The Commission checks that you have either:

  • provided family violence leave taker data;
  • attested that your organisation had no family violence leave takers during the 12-month audit reporting period; or
  • noted that this data is unavailable for some other reason.

Advice on rule FVL_01

If your audit fails the test for rule FVL_01, the Commission may ask you to resubmit. To avoid this, you should either provide data on your organisation's family violence leave takers, or use the 'Family violence leave data availability' field to let the Commission know that you have left this dataset intentionally blank.

If people in your organisation took family violence leave, but you believe it's appropriate to exclude this data from your audit, please tell us in the 'Family violence leave data commentary' field.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


FVL_02 Your organisation provided a multi-select list of family violence leave taker cultural identity values that includes 'Data unavailable'

Each row in the family violence leave dataset represents one family violence leave taker at your organisation. The 'Cultural identity' field should contain a code to indicate each family violence leave taker's cultural identity. If a family violence leave taker has more than one cultural identity, you should format the selections as a list delimited with vertical bars like this: A|B|C

The value 'Data unavailable' should only be used if your organisation can't provide cultural identity data at this time. If you've provided a list of cultural identities for a family violence leave taker, it wouldn't make sense for one of those values to be 'Data unavailable'.

The Commission checks that lists of cultural identity codes do not include the value 'Data unavailable'. This helps ensure you haven't made mistakes when preparing your cultural identity data.

Advice on rule FVL_02

If your audit fails the test for rule FVL_02, the Commission will most likely exclude some of your audit data from its publications and research.

To avoid this, you should remove the value 'Data unavailable' from any lists of cultural identity values. If you believe it's appropriate for a list of cultural identities to include the value 'Data unavailable', please tell us in the 'Family violence leave data commentary' field.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


Organisation dataset

O_01 Your organisation did not indicate whether it would supply governing body data

The organisation dataset provides space for you to tell the Commission about your organisation and its audit data. Within it, you can use the 'Governing body data availability' field to tell us whether you've included governing body data in your audit submission.

This field helps us know to look for governing body data from you, or that you've left a dataset intentionally blank.

Advice on rule O_01

If your audit fails the test for rule O_01, the Commission recommends that you complete the 'Governing body data availability(opens in a new window)' field. Without it, we may need to contact you individually in order to evaluate your audit submission.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


O_02 Your organisation did not indicate why it did not supply governing body data

The organisation dataset provides space for you to tell the Commission about your organisation and its audit data. Within it, you can use the 'Reason governing body data unavailable' field to tell us why your organisation is unable to provide governing body data.

This field helps us understand your organisation's individual circumstances.

Advice on rule O_02

If your audit fails the test for rule O_02, the Commission recommends that you resolve the issue in one of the following ways:

  • If your audit includes governing body data, change the 'Governing body data availability' field to 'Y'.
  • If your organisation has no governing body, change the 'Governing body data availability' field to 'N'. No further explanation is required.
  • If your organisation has a governing body but is unable to provide data on it, provide a brief explanation in the 'Reason governing body data unavailable' field.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


O_03 Your organisation did not indicate whether it would supply sexual harassment complaints data

The organisation dataset provides space for you to tell the Commission about your organisation and its audit data. Within it, you can use the 'Sexual harassment complaints data availability' field to tell us whether you've included sexual harassment complaint data in your audit submission.

This field helps us know to look for sexual harassment complaint data from you, or that you've left a dataset intentionally blank.

Advice on rule O_03

If your audit fails the test for rule O_03, the Commission recommends that you complete the 'Sexual harassment complaints data availability' field. Without it, we may need to contact you individually in order to evaluate your audit submission.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


O_04 Your organisation did not indicate why it did not supply sexual harassment complaints data

The organisation dataset provides space for you to tell the Commission about your organisation and its audit data. Within it, you can use the 'Reason sexual harassment complaints data unavailable(opens in a new window)' field to tell us why your organisation is unable to provide sexual harassment complaints data.

This field helps us understand your organisation's individual circumstances.

Advice on rule O_04

If your audit fails the test for rule O_04, the Commission recommends that you resolve the issue in one of the following ways:

  • If your audit includes sexual harassment complaints data, change the 'Sexual harassment complaints data availability' field to 'Y'.
  • If your organisation had no formal sexual harassment complaints in the 12-month audit reporting period, change the 'Sexual harassment complaints data availability' field to 'N'. No further explanation is required.
  • If your organisation had formal sexual harassment complaints in the 12-month audit reporting period but is unable to provide data on them, provide a brief explanation in the 'Reason sexual harassment complaints data unavailable' field.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


O_05 Your organisation did not list the actions it took to prevent future sexual harassment

The organisation dataset provides space for you to tell the Commission about your organisation and its audit data. Within it, you can use the 'Actions taken to prevent future sexual harassment' field to tell us about what steps your organisation took during the 12-month audit reporting period.

If your organisation took more than one action, you should format the selections as a list delimited with vertical bars like this: A|B|C

Completing this field helps your organisation track the actions you've taken over time.

Advice on rule O_05

If your audit fails the test for rule O_05, the Commission recommends that you complete the 'Actions taken to prevent future sexual harassment' field.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


O_06 Your organisation did not indicate whether it would supply family violence leave data

The organisation dataset provides space for you to tell the Commission about your organisation and its audit data. Within it, you can use the 'Family violence leave data availability' field to tell us whether you've included family violence leave data in your audit submission.

This field helps us know to look for family violence leave data from you, or that you've left a dataset intentionally blank.

Advice on rule O_06

If your audit fails the test for rule O_06, the Commission recommends that you complete the 'Family violence leave data availability' field. Without it, we may need to contact you individually in order to evaluate your audit submission.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


O_07 Your organisation did not indicate why it did not supply family violence leave data

The organisation dataset provides space for you to tell the Commission about your organisation and its audit data. Within it, you can use the 'Reason family violence leave data unavailable' field to tell us why your organisation is unable to provide family violence leave data.

This field helps us understand your organisation's individual circumstances.

Advice on rule O_07

If your audit fails the test for rule O_07, the Commission recommends that you resolve the issue in one of the following ways:

  • If your audit includes family violence leave data, change the 'Family violence leave data availability' field to 'Y'.
  • If your organisation had no family violence leave takers in the 12-month audit reporting period, change the 'Family violence leave data availability' field to 'N'. No further explanation is required.
  • If your organisation had family violence leave takers in the 12-month audit reporting period but is unable to provide data on them, provide a brief explanation in the 'Reason family violence leave data unavailable' field.

Refer to the audit handbook(opens in a new window) for detail on topics such as:


O_08 Your audit was not submitted using the most recent workforce reporting template

The Commission released the current workforce reporting template in 2025. If any critical issues are identified with the template, we may release a new version to correct them.

The Commission checks the template version you used to ensure it's up to date.

Advice on rule O_08

If your audit fails the test for rule O_08, please upgrade to the current version of the workforce reporting template. It's available on the Commission's 2025 audit guidance(opens in a new window) web page.

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