This year, duty holders were supported to meet a particularly demanding reporting cycle. The Commission maintained timely compliance assessment despite increased demand and reduced resources.
In 2025-26, the Commission:
- supported approximately 300 duty holders – covering more than 500,000 workers – to comply with their obligations under the Gender Equality Act
- received around 300 workplace gender audits, 270 progress reports, and 280 gender equality action plans from duty holders
- issued compliance feedback for 2025 audits within 4 months of submissions
- responded to more than 2600 enquiries, with 91% responded to within 5 days
- visited 37 duty holders, including 28 in regional and rural areas.
How we think about impact
The Commission’s impact is not measured only by the activities we deliver. As a regulator, our impact is ultimately reflected in stronger compliance with the Gender Equality Act, improved organisational capability and accountability, better evidence about gender inequality, and measurable progress in workplace gender equality over time. Many regulatory interventions take time to deliver measurable outcomes. Much of the work described in this report therefore lays the foundations for change that we expect to see in future reporting cycles.
State of gender equality in Victoria’s public sector
Our analysis of 2025 audit data, alongside data from 2021 and 2023, shows encouraging signs of structural progress in parts of the sector:
- More women were working in senior leadership in 2025 (up 4.2 percentage points since 2023).
- Gender pay gaps narrowed within many organisations, occupations, and in 7 of 11 industries.
- Since 2021, gender pay gaps narrowed for women with disability (down 4.7 percentage points, compared to men without disability), First Nations women (down 1.2 percentage points, compared to non-Indigenous men) and culturally and racially marginalised (CARM) women (down 1.2 percentage points, compared to non-CARM men).
- More men took up flexible work, reducing the gender gap in flexible work by 1.4 percentage points since 2021.
- Men’s uptake of parental leave improved across 6 out of 11 industries between 2023 and 2025.
- A higher proportion of women were working in traditionally men-concentrated occupations and industries in 2025 .
- Governing bodies remained gender balanced across the sector.
These improvements are significant, but they have not eliminated persistent structural inequalities across the sector, including the concentration of men in higher-paid industries, organisations and roles.
Progress is neither consistent nor fast enough. Structural gender inequality continues to shape workplace experiences and outcomes for Victorians every day. The Commissioner has identified priority areas that require urgent attention. These are:
- eliminating sexual harassment and improving formal reporting
- narrowing the gender pay gap
- improving uptake of flexible work and parental leave by men.
Detailed findings are available in our full report: State of gender equality in Victoria’s public sector 2026 - Progress, persistence and priorities under the Gender Equality Act.
Our team
The Public Sector Gender Equality Commissioner is an independent statutory officer appointed under the Gender Equality Act 2020. The Commissioner is supported by the Commission for Gender Equality in the Public Sector, which is funded through the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing.
The Commission’s work is delivered by a team spanning regulatory policy, research and evidence, data and analysis, engagement, and duty holder support.
In 2025-26, a reduction in the Commission’s budget allocation required a restructure. The Commission is now comprised of 10.5 full-time equivalent staff.
The Commission regulates approximately 300 defined entities employing around 500,000 public sector workers.
Staff build skills and knowledge through a range of professional development opportunities. This year, we have explored and leveraged contemporary tools and technologies to build effective processes and improve efficiencies in a number of key workstreams.
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