Executive Summary

This submission has been prepared by the Coalition for Working Women (CWW) to outline the position of its members in relation to consultation about the gender reporting requirements outlined in the Gender Equality (Matters in Relation to Gender Equality Indicators) Instrument 2013 (No. 1). Its aim is to assist in shaping future reporting requirements to ensure a balance between employer concerns and the major long-term business benefits accruing from workforce gender reporting.

“Australia’s gender based reporting will generate a world leading data set that will develop business intelligence, enable company and industry comparisons and benchmarking, drive policy change and improve productivity and performance.“

The CWW attests that the existing reporting regime enables the Government to:

• obtain meaningful gendered data sets on workforce composition,
• make evidence-based assessments concerning whether employers are addressing gender equality, and
• benchmark and improve performance.

However, the CWW appreciates that new legislation is an evolving policy area and may require fine tuning. Following consultation with business, women’s and industry groups it is clear that some improvements can be made, although given the timing of the review, it would have been advantageous for businesses to have seen the substantive and individualised benchmark reports being made available to them by the WGEA.

The table at Appendix A lists some of the reporting matters employers will be reporting on in 2013-14, which will now remain in place for reporting in 2014-15, and the CWW recommendation on their retention or removal.

The table at Appendix B includes those reporting matters that were first listed in Schedule 2 for additional reporting in 2015 and the CWW recommendation on their retention or removal.

The remainder of the submission addresses matters raised in the context of these recommendations, arguments supporting the retention of the reporting regime – including costs and benefits – and matters raised in CWW consultation with employer groups via meetings and further discussion via email and directly

 

 

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