Statement on the release of the WGEA’S annual dataset

The Morrison Government welcomes the release of Australia’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) scorecard, which shows positive improvement in some areas, with more work to continue in others.

WGEA collects data from over 4,800 employers, capturing more than 4 million workers, to provide one of the world’s most comprehensive sources of gender equality data.

WGEA data provides vital insight into Australia’s progress on workplace gender equality.

The 2018-19 dataset, released today also shows where continuing action is needed.

There has been a significant increase in the proportion of employers with a policy or strategy on family and domestic violence, from 46.9 per cent to 60.2 per cent.

More than three quarters of employers have a gender equality policy, however less than a third implemented key performance indicators for managers on gender equality outcomes. More employers are taking the important step of analysing their payroll data for gender pay gaps, however only six in 10 are acting on the finding of those analyses. Organisations also report that the number of women on their boards has increased slightly to 26.8 per cent.

As Minister for Women, I am focussed on practical measures to ensure women are financially secure, are able to access work, and are paid fairly for that work.

That is why the Government is working with business to increase women’s leadership in the private sector, which is the largest employer of Australian women. We are also acting to address the gender pay gap which has continued to reduce, to a low of 14.0 per cent under the Coalition Government, from 17.2 per cent in 2013.

The Government is providing an additional $8.6 million in funding to the WGEA to improve workplace gender reporting as part of the November 2018 Women’s Economic Security Statement.