A government review of the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012, which sought feedback from a range of stakeholders and the wider community on what regulatory requirements were needed to tackle workplace inequality, has been published.
Minister for women Marisa Payne announced the WGEA review was publicly available at an International Women’s Day event in Sydney.
In a statement, Payne said the review came at a critical time, where there is real momentum for change towards achieving gender equality.
She added: “It’s clear that we need to proactively address issues in Australian workplaces to enable women to excel and reach their full potential.”
The review endorsed the implementation of sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins’ 2020 Respect@Work report and found its recommendations number 46 and 42 (develop good practice indicators to measure and monitor sexual harassment issues, and consider how the indicators apply to WGEA reporting) would effectively work to prevent and address sex-based harassment and discrimination in the workplace.
Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) director Mary Wooldridge welcomed the recommendations from the review of the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012.
She said: “These recommendations draw from leading practice around the world about how to improve gender equality in workplaces.
“The review has taken into account the views of a range of stakeholders, including WGEA, and, pleasingly, it has considered the agency’s evidence-based submission on what should change to enhance Australia’s national reporting framework.”
Wooldridge pointed out the implementation of the recommendations will accelerate positive change towards gender equality, improve the reporting experience for businesses, enhance insights from our already world-leading dataset, and deepen WGEA’s capacity to work closely with employers to support and advance their efforts.
Minerals Council of Australia chief executive officer Tania Constable said the mining industry stands ready to work with the WGEA to implement the recommendations.
She noted the MCA advocated for streamlined reporting for employers, including utilisation of the data already provided to the government through systems such as Single Touch Payroll.
Constable continued: “Improved integration of government data systems will ease the reporting burden for employers and provide all government agencies with better information for policy development.
“The decision to publish organisation gender pay gaps will accelerate action to close them.
“The mining industry pushed for this change in the hope that an increase in transparent data will drive more decisive action.
“This data will also allow companies to partner with each other to achieve this goal.
“Given the landmark Respect@Work report, it is appropriate to update the legislative framework with employers existing obligation to report to WGEA on sex-based harassment and discrimination.
“The Australian mining industry is committed to inclusion and diversity and providing a workplace where people feel safe to bring their whole selves to work.”
