Victoria's Gender Equality Act 2020 — Mandatory Workplace Gender Audits and Pay-Gap Reporting for ~300 Public Bodies

The Gender Equality Act 2020 (Victoria, Australia) requires around 300 public sector organisations, universities and local councils, covering more than 450,000 workers, to run workplace gender audits against seven indicators, publish Gender Equality Action Plans and demonstrate reasonable and material progress every two years, under the oversight of the Commission for Gender Equality in the Public Sector.
The first audit (published 5 September 2022) found an average gender pay gap of 15.6%, meaning men earned about $19,000 more than women in 2020-21; women were 66% of public sector employees but 45% of senior leaders.
The 2023 progress audit reported 100% of organisations submitting; the median total-remuneration gap across the Victorian public sector fell to 9.1% (local government 1.7%), although calculated by mean there were slight increases. Compliance with progress on pay equity was 67%, and 96% of organisations had action plans. One example, Victoria Legal Aid, cut its mean base salary gap from 13.2% to 10.5% between 2021 and 2023.
An independent evaluation of the audit process by Allen + Clarke (August–September 2022) found entities valued the reform but reported difficult templates and untimely advice, and made 13 recommendations. The Commission also notes sexual-harassment complaint data under-captured employee experience. Outcomes are measured as compliance with progress, and attribution of pay-gap movement to the Act alone has not been established.

Read the full analysis: https://www.genderequalitycommission.vic.gov.au/victoria-leads-way-gender-equality-audit