On 30 March 2023 the Australian Parliament passed the Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Closing the Gender Pay Gap) Bill 2023 (the Bill). The Bill introduces changes that enable the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) to publish organisational gender pay gaps and will require CEOs of relevant employers to provide certain WGEA reports to their governing bodies.

Separate to the Bill, on 3 February 2023 the Federal Government made the Workplace Gender Equality (Minimum Standards) Instrument 2023 and the Workplace Gender Equality (Matters in relation to Gender Equality Indicators) Instrument 2023 (the WGE Instruments). The WGE Instruments change certain reporting standards for relevant employers and will apply to the reporting period commencing on 1 April 2023. The WGE Instruments are now in operation.

These changes will apply to organisations required to report as a ‘relevant employer’ under the Workplace Gender Equality Agency Act 2012 (Cth). In the context of private sector organisations, a ‘relevant employer’ generally includes an employer with 100 or more employees.