Workplace Gender Equality Agency
The Workplace Gender Equality Agency is an Australian Government statutory agency created by the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012.[1]
The Agency's purpose is to promote and improve gender equality in Australian workplaces. It works collaboratively with employers providing advice, practical tools and education to help them improve their gender performance.
WGEA works with employers to help them comply with the reporting requirements under the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012. The legislation aims to encourage organisations to introduce measures that improve gender equality outcomes.
The WGEA works closely with business, industry and professional associations, academics and researchers, equal opportunity networks and women’s groups and regularly speak at private and public events on workplace gender issues in order to promote their vision that women and men be equally represented, valued and rewarded in the workplace.
As stated under the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012, the Agency's functions are:
- advise and assist employers in promoting and improving gender equality in the workplace;
- develop, in consultation with relevant employers and employee organisations, benchmarks in relation to gender equality indicators;
- issue guidelines to assist relevant employers to achieve the purposes of the Act;
- review compliance with the Act by relevant employers, review public reports lodged by relevant employers and deal with those reports in accordance with the Act;
- collect and analyse information provided by relevant employers under the Act to assist the Agency to advise the Minister in relation to legislative instruments made under the Act;
- undertake research, educational programs and other programs for the purpose of promoting and improving gender equality in the workplace;
- work with employers to maximise the effectiveness of the administration of the Act, including by minimising the regulatory burden on employers;
- promote and contribute to understanding and acceptance, and public discussion, of gender equality in the workplace;
- review the effectiveness of the Act in achieving its purposes; and
- report to the Minister on such matters in relation to gender equality in the workplace as the Agency thinks fit.
About the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012
The Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 (Act) replaced the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999. The new, strengthened legislation aims to improve and promote equality for both women and men in the workplace.
Reflecting the new legislation, the agency charged with overseeing the Act, formerly the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency, has been renamed the Workplace Gender Equality Agency.
The principle objects of the Act are to:[2]
- promote and improve gender equality (including equal remuneration between women and men) in employment and in the workplace
- support employers to remove barriers to the full and equal participation of women in the workforce, in recognition of the disadvantaged position of women in relation to employment matters
- promote, amongst employers, the elimination of discrimination on the basis of gender in relation to employment matters (including in relation to family and caring responsibilities)
- foster workplace consultation between employers and employees on issues concerning gender equality in employment and in the workplace
- improve the productivity and competitiveness of Australian business through the advancement of gender equality in employment and in the workplace.
References
External links
- About the WGEA (wgea.gov.au) Retrieved August 22, 2013
- The Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 (comlaw)