Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Closing the Gender Pay Gap) 2023

✦ Plain-English Summary

# Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Closing the Gender Pay Gap) 2023

## What it does
This law changes how companies report on pay differences between men and women. It allows the Workplace Gender Equality Agency to publicly share information about employers' gender pay gaps, and updates the standards and reporting requirements that large employers must meet.

## Why it matters
Right now, companies submit gender pay gap data but it's not always transparent to the public. This change means Australians can actually see which employers have significant pay differences between men and women, putting pressure on companies to close those gaps. It also gives the agency stronger tools to track progress on gender equality.

## Key details
- **Public reporting**: Information from employer reports can now be published to show how well companies are doing on equal pay—this is new transparency.
- **Effective date**: The law comes into force the day after it receives Royal Assent (formal approval from the Governor-General).
- **Who's affected**: Large employers required to report to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency will face increased public scrutiny on their pay practices, though the law includes protections to prevent identifying individual employees.

Official Description

Amends the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 to: require the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) to publish gender pay gap information of relevant employers for each reporting period; rename the current 'minimum standards' as 'gender equality standards'; require relevant employers to provide executive summary and industry benchmark reports to all members of their governing body; include 'sexual harassment', 'harassment on the ground of sex' or 'discrimination' as gender equality indicators; change the title of the 'Director' of the WGEA to 'Chief Executive Officer'; and make a technical amendment to the definition of 'reporting period'.

Committee Referrals

Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee

Full bill PDF →APH page →

Audit History

Introduced

8 Feb 2023

Last updated on APH

10 Apr 2026

Outcome date

11 Apr 2023

Last checked by Crossbench

yesterday

Full text indexed

yesterday

🗳️

No formal division recorded

This bill passed by voice vote — parliament agreed without calling a formal count. A division is only recorded when a member explicitly requests one.

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