Workplace Gender Equality Agency

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) is an Australian Government statutory agency responsible for promoting and improving gender equality in Australian workplaces. The agency was created by the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 and provides employers with advice, practical tools, and education to help them improve gender equality. The Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 was enacted by an amendment to the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999, that changed its name to the Workplace Gender Equality Act and correspondingly changed the name of the Equality Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. The Workplace Gender Equality Agency is part of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Activities
Non-public sector employers with 100 or more staff are required to report to the agency annually, between the first of April to the 31st of May, against six gender equality indicators:
 * 1) Gender composition of the workforce
 * 2) Gender composition of governing bodies of relevant employers
 * 3) Equal remuneration between women and men
 * 4) Availability and utility of employment terms, conditions and practices relating to flexible working arrangements for employees and to working arrangements supporting employees with family or caring responsibilities
 * 5) Consultation with employees on issues concerning gender equality in the workplace
 * 6) Any other matters specified by the Minister: sex-based harassment and discrimination

The WGEA uses the data to develop confidential and customized Competitor Analysis Benchmark Reports for employers, which enables them to compare their performance to their peers. The WGEA dataset covers 4 million employees, and provides a detailed insight into the state of gender equality in Australian workplaces at an industry and sector level. This data is publicly available and searchable at https://data.wgea.gov.au

While the data has been anonymised for release for over 10 years, on 27 February 2024 the first report openly listing the gender pay gap of nearly 5000 Australian public sector employers and businesses was released. It revealed many of the companies and brands that are popular in Australia have substantial gender pay gaps.

Key statistics
The following statistics were sourced from WGEA's 2017-18 dataset: https://www.wgea.gov.au/data/wgea-research/australias-gender-equality-scorecard
 * Australia's gender pay gap is 21.3% based on full-time total remuneration, and 16.2% based on full-time base remuneration.
 * 17.1% of CEOs are women
 * 30.5% of Key Management Personnel positions held by women
 * 39.1% of managers are women
 * 6.4% of management positions are part-time
 * 70.7% of employers have a flexible working policy or strategy
 * 74.3% have an overall gender equality strategy and/or policy
 * 46.9% of employers have a domestic violence policy or strategy

Agency director
Mary Wooldridge was announced as the new director of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency in April 2021.

Before joining the Agency, Wooldridge served from 2006 to 2020 in the Victorian Parliament, including a term as Minister for Mental Health, Community Services, and Women’s Affairs.

As minister, Wooldridge worked to implement the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022 and was instrumental in establishing Our Watch, the national family violence prevention agency. She was the Minister responsible for signing Victoria up to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). She established the Victorian Commission for Children and Young People, including the nation’s first Aboriginal Commissioner, Parkville College – an award-winning Public School in Youth Justice Centres, and Australia’s first Mental Health Complaints Commissioner and the Family Drug Treatment Court.

Prior to being elected to Parliament, Wooldridge was the CEO of The Foundation for Young Australians and worked with McKinsey & Company and Consolidated Press Holdings.