Why this matters
Gender equitable recruitment and promotion practices are central to gender equality. Recruitment and promotion are pivotal moments that shape pay, progression and the gender composition of the workforce, so where access is unequal, the effects compound across careers.
Gender bias and stereotypes can shape recruitment, promotion and career progression, meaning women do not always have the same access to opportunities as men. This is often because particular industries or occupations have long been associated with a particular gender.
Many jobs are still designed around an ‘ideal worker’ who does not have caring responsibilities. Women can be discouraged from applying for roles by arbitrary requirements in job advertisements, gendered language in position descriptions, and unexamined assumptions about when and where work must be done. Other practices mean women can miss out on an interview or a role because of bias and dominant social norms. Recruitment is therefore a key point at which organisations can either entrench gender concentration or begin to shift it.
Bias does not stop at hiring. Women who take leave for caring responsibilities, or who work part time or flexibly, are often seen as less committed. Being denied equal access to promotion and training is also a key driver of the gender pay gap, because it constrains progression into more senior, better-paid roles.
Data on recruitment and promotion outcomes shows where careers may be stalling and helps organisations design fairer opportunities. This helps organisations improve gender composition across the workforce and within specific areas. You can read more in the Baseline report (2021, pp. 73-74).
How we define progress
In recruitment, context determines what progress looks like. The goal is movement towards a more gender balanced workforce. In a women-concentrated organisation (for example, one where 70% of employees are women), recruiting more women is unlikely to represent progress unless they are being recruited into occupations, roles or parts of the organisation where women are currently underrepresented. In these organisations, progress will often mean attracting, recruiting and retaining more men in women-concentrated roles and areas of the workforce. Equally, organisations should ensure that men are not recruited predominantly into senior or traditionally masculine roles, as this would reinforce existing inequalities rather than reduce them.
For promotion, the key question is whether those promoted reflect the gender composition of the workforce. If women make up 70% of an organisation, they would generally be expected to receive around 70% of promotions. If they receive substantially fewer, men are being promoted disproportionately. Progress therefore means moving towards promotion outcomes that reflect the workforce composition. As discussed under Indicator 1: Gender composition of the workforce, organisations in men-concentrated industries may also choose to promote more women deliberately to increase women’s representation at all levels (Gould et al. 2018).
Organisations should analyse their employee experience survey data to understand whether perceptions of recruitment and promotion processes differ by gender. This can help identify barriers that may not be apparent from workforce data alone.
Progress between 2021 and 2025
The Victorian public sector has improved access to promotion and development for people of all genders since 2021. Perceptions of recruitment fairness also rose across the board. These are real gains.
They are not evenly shared, however. Two findings warrant close attention: the gap in access to development opportunities widened in favour of men, and gender-diverse employees reported barriers to career advancement at more than twice the rate of men. At the same time, the proportion of men reporting barriers reduced, widening the gap with gender-diverse employees.
Key data measures are presented in Tables 5.1 to 5.4. Findings are discussed in further detail after the tables.
Table 5.1: Development and promotion trends5
| Measure | 2021 | 2023 | 2025 | Percentage point change 2021-2025 | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proportion of women promoted | 2.3% | 4.0% | 8.2% | +5.9pp | n/a6 |
| Proportion of men promoted | 2.7% | 5.1% | 8.3% | +5.5pp | n/a |
| Gender gap in promotions | 0.4% | 1.1% | 0.0% | -0.4pp | Excellent (18 – Matrix) |
| Proportion of women accessing development opportunities | n/a | 20.2% | 27.5% | +7.2pp | n/a |
| Proportion of men accessing development opportunities | n/a | 26.5% | 36.1% | +9.6pp | n/a |
| Proportion of people of self-described gender accessing development opportunities | n/a | 11.9% | 12.6% | +0.8pp | n/a |
| Gender gap in development opportunities (percentage point) | n/a | 6.3% | 8.6% | +2.4pp | Moderate (12 – Matrix) |
Source: Workplace gender audit workforce data, 2021, 2023 and 2025.
Notes: To understand how to interpret the different types of progress ratings, see Data measures in Appendix 1. To read more about how the Commission calculates gender gaps, see Gender gaps in Appendix 1. Gender gaps are always calculated between men and women. A gap greater than zero is in favour of men, and a gap less than zero is in favour of women. The percentage point change column may not always reflect the exact difference between years due to rounding.
Table 5.2: Gender gap in promotions by industry
| Industry | 2021 | 2023 | 2025 | Percentage point change 2021-2025 | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Community and cultural services | -1.0% | -0.2% | -0.5% | +0.5pp | Excellent (18 – Matrix) |
| Finance and insurance | 0.0% | -1.3% | 1.1% | +1.1pp | Excellent (18 – Matrix) |
| Local government | 0.0% | -0.3% | -0.3% | -0.3pp | Excellent (18 – Matrix) |
| Other | -0.6% | -1.6% | -0.8% | -0.2pp | Excellent (18 – Matrix) |
| Police and emergency services | 0.0% | 0.6% | 2.6% | +2.6pp | Excellent (18 – Matrix) |
| Public health care | -0.6% | -0.2% | -0.1% | +0.6pp | Excellent (18 – Matrix) |
| TAFE and other education | -0.5% | -2.2% | -1.2% | -0.7pp | Excellent (18 – Matrix) |
| Transport | -2.1% | -1.3% | -2.8% | -0.6pp | Excellent (18 – Matrix) |
| Universities | -0.3% | -0.1% | -0.3% | 0.0pp | Excellent (18 – Matrix) |
| Victorian Public Service | 0.0% | 1.3% | -0.3% | -0.3pp | Excellent (18 – Matrix) |
| Water and land management | -0.7% | -0.9% | -0.9% | -0.2pp | Excellent (18 – Matrix) |
Source: Workplace gender audit workforce data, 2021, 2023 and 2025.
Notes: To understand how to interpret the different types of progress ratings, see Data measures in Appendix 1. To read more about how the Commission calculates gender gaps, see Gender gaps in Appendix 1. Gender gaps are always calculated between men and women. A gap greater than zero is in favour of men, and a gap less than zero is in favour of women. The percentage point change column may not always reflect the exact difference between years due to rounding.
Table 5.3: Perceptions of fairness in recruitment trends
| Measure | 2021 | 2023 | 2025 | Percentage point change 2021–2025 | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proportion of women who believe recruitment processes are fair | 58.0% | 66.4% | 64.8% | +6.8pp | Moderate (11 – Matrix) |
| Proportion of men who believe recruitment processes are fair | 55.3% | 63.3% | 65.0% | +9.7pp | Moderate (11 – Matrix) |
| Proportion of people of self-described gender who believe recruitment processes are fair | 36.0% | 48.7% | 47.8% | +11.8pp | n/a |
Source: People matter survey data, 2021, 2023 and 2025.
Notes: To understand how to interpret the different types of progress ratings, see Data measures in Appendix 1. The percentage point change column may not always reflect the exact difference between years due to rounding.
Table 5.4: Career advancement satisfaction and barriers
| Measure | 2021 | 2023 | 2025 | Percentage point change 2021–2025 | Progress |
| Women satisfied with their career advancement | 39.3% | 36.5% | 42.3% | +3.0pp | Poor (7 – Matrix) |
| Men satisfied with their career advancement | 39.1% | 35.8% | 43.4% | +4.3pp | Moderate (10 – Matrix) |
| People of self-described gender satisfied with their career advancement | 24.3% | 23.8% | 28.2% | +3.9pp | n/a |
| Women experiencing barriers to career advancement7 | 27.7% | 27.3% | 27.4% | -0.3pp | Poor (7 – Matrix) |
| Men experiencing barriers to career advancement | 28.0% | 23.8% | 22.8% | -5.2pp | Moderate (10 – Matrix) |
| People of self-described gender experiencing barriers to career advancement | 51.8% | 52.8% | 56.4% | +4.7pp | n/a |
Source: People matter survey data, 2021, 2023 and 2025.
Notes: To understand how to interpret the different types of progress ratings, see Data measures in Appendix 1. The percentage point change column may not always reflect the exact difference between years due to rounding.
Signs of progress
Men and women were promoted at similar rates
Between 2021 and 2025, the Victorian public sector closed the small gender gap in promotions. In 2025 there was effectively no gap, with 8.2% of women and 8.3% of men promoted over a 12-month period. This indicates that, at the aggregate level, women and men were promoted at similar rates during the reporting period. It does not necessarily mean they had equal access to development opportunities or senior leadership positions.
Industry-level gaps were minor. The largest gap, in transport (2.8 percentage points in favour of women), is consistent with that industry’s sustained effort to attract, retain and promote women. To read more about the barriers and enablers to increasing women in transport in the Victorian context, see Ghalebeigi et al. (2022).
More employees of all genders believed that recruitment processes were fair
Between 2021 and 2025, perceptions of the fairness of recruitment processes improved across all genders. The proportion of men who believed recruitment processes in their organisation were fair increased by 9.7 percentage points (to 65.0%), while the proportion of women increased 6.8 percentage points (to 64.8%). The largest increase was among employees of self-described gender, up 11.8 percentage points (to 47.8%). Gender-diverse employees’ confidence, while improving, remains well below that of women and men.
These results show improved perceptions of fairness in recruitment and promotion practices. This is separate to material recruitment and promotion outcomes. The Commission’s data shows almost no gender difference in perceived fairness, but research suggests that perceptions of fairness can themselves be shaped by gendered expectations and organisational position. Men are more often socialised to expect rapid advancement and may rate their own prospects more highly than equally performing women (Adamecz-Völgyi and Shure 2022). Women concentrated at lower levels may simply have less visibility of how recruitment decisions are made, such as informal and behind-the-scenes factors that contribute to decision-making. Perceptions of fairness should not, therefore, be read as proof of equal opportunity or equal outcomes.
Satisfaction with career advancement increased for all genders
Women’s satisfaction with their career advancement rose to 42.3% in 2025 (from 39.3% in 2021) and men’s to 43.4% (from 39.1%). Gender-diverse employees saw similar growth (up 3.9 points to 28.2%) but remained substantially lower than for women and men.
These findings should be interpreted with caution. Job satisfaction measures how employees feel about their careers, not whether career opportunities and outcomes are equitable. High satisfaction can exist alongside unequal pay, limited progression opportunities and other forms of workplace inequality.
Research has identified several possible explanations for this disconnect, sometimes referred to as the ‘paradox of the contented female worker’. These include differences in what employees value at work, adaptation to workplace conditions, caring responsibilities, and differences in the expectations or reference points people use when assessing their careers (Walters 2005; Long 2005; Gerson et al. 2007; Aletraris 2010; Fleming and Kler 2014; Kifle et al. 2014; Zou 2015; Carvajal et al. 2021; Dockery and Buchler 2023). Research funded by the Commission also found that the flexibility offered in the Victorian public sector makes it an attractive workplace for many employees with caring responsibilities (Dangar et al. 2023).
For these reasons, satisfaction should not be interpreted as evidence that career opportunities or outcomes are equitable. Instead, it is one measure that should be considered alongside objective workforce data on recruitment, promotion and development opportunities, and reported barriers to career advancement.
Areas for attention
Men had more access to development opportunities
Access to development opportunities increased for all genders between 2023 and 2025 – by 9.6 percentage points for men, 7.2 for women and 0.8 for gender-diverse employees. Because access increased more for men than women, the gender gap in access to development opportunities widened by 2.4 percentage points in men’s favour. In 2025, men were almost 3 times as likely as gender diverse employees to access development opportunities, while women were around twice as likely.
This measure is only available from 2023, so it reflects a 2-year rather than a full 4-year change. Results for gender-diverse employees rest on a small number of respondents and should interpreted with caution. Even allowing for this, the substantial difference in access is a concern. Development opportunities are an important pathway to promotion, leadership and higher-paid roles. Unequal access therefore risks reinforcing inequalities in career progression and remuneration over time.
Gender-diverse employees faced markedly higher barriers to career advancement
The most concerning finding for this indicator relates to gender-diverse employees. In 2025, 56.4% reported barriers to career advancement. That’s more than twice the rate of men (22.8%). This figure rose by 4.7 percentage points since 2021, while reported barriers declined for men (down 5.2 percentage points) and held steady for women (27.4%).
This sits alongside some encouraging findings. Gender-diverse employees reported improved satisfaction with career advancement, and greater confidence in the fairness of recruitment processes between 2021 and 2025. However, these improvements were not matched by a reduction in reported barriers to career advancement. More than half of gender diverse employees reported barriers to getting ahead, and the gap between them and other employees widened.
Public sector employers need to understand the barriers facing gender-diverse employees and take deliberate action to remove them. Because gender-diverse employees have a small share of the workforce, the experiences behind these figures can be easy to overlook in organisation-level data. Careful analysis and targeted action are therefore essential to ensure career opportunities are equitable for employees of all genders.
Commissioner expectations
The Commissioner expects recruitment and promotion practices to be free from gender bias and discrimination, and to actively support gender balance at all levels of organisations and across occupations and industries.
Recruitment strategies should respond to an organisation’s current composition. Women-concentrated organisations should focus on attracting and retaining more men, and men-concentrated organisations on attracting and retaining more women. Organisations should also ensure recruitment does not reinforce existing segregation by disproportionately appointing one gender into senior or traditionally gendered roles. Reviewing job advertisements, role requirements and recruitment processes can help identify and remove unintended barriers.
The Commissioner expects duty holders to analyse promotion outcomes using pipeline analysis. This means assessing whether the gender composition at each level of the organisation reflects the level immediately below it and identifying where women or men are disproportionately dropping out of progression pathways. Where these ‘glass ceilings’ or ‘leaks’ exist, organisations should identify and address the structural barriers contributing to them (Chilazi et al. 2021).
The Commissioner is particularly concerned by the widened gap in access to development opportunities and the persistently high barriers to career advancement reported by gender-diverse employees. Development opportunities are a critical pathway to promotion and higher-paid roles. Duty holders should therefore monitor who is accessing these opportunities, investigate any disparities, and take action where access is unequal.
Because gender-diverse employees may represent a small proportion of the workforce, their experiences can be masked in organisation-level data. The Commissioner expects duty holders to analyse this data carefully, engage directly with gender-diverse employees where appropriate, and take deliberate action to identify and remove barriers to career progression. Progression pathways should be inclusive for employees of all genders.
Footnotes
- Development opportunities refer to employees who had one or more secondments, training opportunities or higher duties. This measure cannot be calculated for 2021 because these activities were reported on differently. As a result, comparisons are currently limited to 2023 and 2025 data.
- Progress ratings are not assigned here because the Commission does not collect data on the underlying promotional or developmental opportunities available in any given reporting period. It also does not collect information on who was eligible or who applied for them. It is therefore impossible to assess how many people of a given gender ‘should’ have been promoted or given access to development opportunities.
- This question from the People matter survey asks respondents ‘During the last 12 months in your current organisation, have you experienced any barriers to your success at work due to any of the following (Select all that apply)’. The response options include a range of personal attributes, such as ‘My race’ or ‘My disability’, as well as other common reasons for discrimination, such as ‘My industrial activity’.
- Measures in Table 5.1 are drawn from an analysis of responses to the People matter survey question ‘My workplace hires people fairly’. The Commission is working on the feasibility of developing a pipeline analysis to more concretely assess progress against this indicator. Pipeline analysis measures progress by comparing the gender composition of an organisation, disaggregated by organisational levels, over time. Seeing how many people of different genders move up through levels of seniority over time can help to assess gender equality in promotion and progression.
Updated