New insights reports launched

The Commission for Gender Equality in the Public Sector has launched two new insights reports to help duty holders address sexual harassment and the gender pay gap.

The reports focus on the practical actions public sector organisations can take to improve gender equality in the workplace.

These two reports are for workplace leaders, HR staff and people working towards gender equality.

They focus on:

Audit data submitted to the Commission last year showed that sexual harassment and the gender pay gap are two key indicators of persistent gender inequality in the public sector.

Overall, sexual harassment increased for women and non-binary people in 2023 compared to 2021. For men it stayed the same. In 2023, the mean total remuneration pay gap remained static at 15.1%. This means that on average, men earned $20,375 more than women. All 11 industries across the public sector had pay gaps favouring men. Public health care (one of the most women-concentrated industries) had the largest gap at around 32% (or an average of $56,985).

The Commission collects data from 300 duty holders under the Gender Equality Act 2020 every two years. This data helps organisations understand gender inequality and measure their progress. The Commission is the only regulator requiring Victorian public sector organisations to regularly report on sexual harassment. Using our unique dataset, we looked at data from 2021 and 2023 workplace gender audits. The reports also draw on research from across Australia and build on our 2021 Baseline Report.