Submission to the Gender Equality Act review

The Public Sector Gender Equality Commissioner has made a submission to the statutory review of the Gender Equality Act 2020 (Vic).

The review, initiated by the Minister for Women, is being carried out by independent agency Cube Group. It is looking at the Act’s first four years. It will assess how well the law has been put into action, how effective it has been, and what could make it stronger.

The Commissioner’s submission highlights the Act’s potential to drive lasting change. It shows how the Act has been rolled out and how organisations have worked to meet their obligations.

Achievements so far

In the first phase of implementing the Act, the focus has been on building strong systems and skills. This has included creating ways to measure progress and supporting organisations to make change. So far, this has delivered:

• Australia's most complete public sector gender equality dataset - about 100 million data points collected to date
• 100% submission rate for all primary reporting requirements - achieved through education and support, without any formal enforcement
• more than 1,300 stakeholder engagements - including 190 in-person visits to duty holder organisations across metro, regional and rural Victoria
• measurable progress across several workplace gender equality indicators
• voluntary improvements beyond minimum requirements
• international recognition of the Act as a world-leading law, helping shape legislation and policy development across Australia and overseas.

Next steps

The submission also calls for targeted updates to the Act. These changes would speed up progress towards intersectional gender equality for all Victorians.

To support openness and good governance, the Commissioner has made her submission public.

Download the submission below to read more.