Gender equality in the workplace: a guide for Australian businesses

Published Monday 11 May 2026

Table of contents

• What is gender equality in the workplace?
• Why gender equality matters for your business
• Common examples of gender inequality
• Know your legal obligations
• Understanding the gender pay gap
• 6 key factors driving the gender pay gap
• How to close the gender pay gap in your business
• Recognising unconscious bias in hiring and promotion
• Measuring gender equality in your business
• Encourage the use of mentors
• Flexible work and parental leave
• Resources and support for gender equality
• Track pay equity and support gender equality with Xero
• FAQs on gender equality in the workplace

Key takeaways

• Review your pay data regularly to identify and close gender gaps. Calculate the percentage difference between average male and female earnings in comparable positions, then set realistic improvement targets such as reducing your pay gap by 2% annually.
• Use structured hiring and promotion processes to minimise unconscious bias. Ask the same interview questions for all candidates, remove identifying details from CVs during initial screening, and include diverse panel members in decision-making.
• Track key gender equality metrics each quarter, including representation by level, hiring ratios, promotion rates, and turnover by gender, so you can measure progress and demonstrate improvement over time.
• Stay across your legal obligations, including the new Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Setting Gender Equality Targets) Act, which took effect on 1 April 2026, and the requirement for employers with 100 or more employees to report to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA).

Gender equality isn't just the right thing to do. It's also a practical business priority that affects your ability to attract talent, retain staff, and stay compliant with Australian law.

What is gender equality in the workplace?

Gender equality in the workplace means everyone has the same opportunities, pay, and respect, regardless of their gender. It involves creating a fair environment where all employees can succeed based on their skills and performance, not on outdated stereotypes.

It's worth noting the difference between equality and equity. Equality means giving everyone the same resources and opportunities. Equity means recognising that people start from different positions and may need different levels of support to achieve the same outcomes. In practice, a truly fair workplace often requires both: equal policies and equitable adjustments where needed.

For example, offering the same parental leave to all employees is equality. Providing additional support for a returning parent who's been on an extended career break is equity. Both play a role in closing the gender gap.

Understanding why gender equality matters can help you build a stronger, more competitive business.

Why gender equality matters for your business

Gender equality directly benefits your business by helping you attract top talent, improve team performance, and meet your legal obligations. When you treat all employees fairly, you get access to the full range of skills in your workforce.

Research from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) consistently shows that organisations with greater gender balance perform better financially. Diverse leadership teams make better decisions, and inclusive workplaces tend to have lower staff turnover and higher engagement.

The business case for gender equality includes:

• A wider talent pool when you recruit without bias
• Improved team performance and innovation through diverse perspectives
• Stronger employer reputation, making it easier to attract and retain staff
• Reduced risk of non-compliance with discrimination and pay equity laws
• Better alignment with customer expectations, as consumers increasingly support equitable businesses

Outdated beliefs about gender roles don't just hold women back. They limit men too, affecting career choices, salaries, and progression for everyone.

To address gender inequality, it helps to recognise the forms it commonly takes.

Common examples of gender inequality

Gender inequality shows up in many forms across Australian workplaces. Recognising these patterns is the first step to addressing them in your business.

Common examples include:

• Pay gaps: women earning less than men for comparable work or at the organisational level
• Promotion barriers: women being overlooked for leadership roles despite equal or stronger qualifications
• Hiring bias: job descriptions or interview processes that unconsciously favour one gender
• Role stereotyping: assuming certain roles are better suited to a particular gender, such as admin roles for women or technical roles for men
• Unequal work allocation: women being given more "office housework" like organising events or taking notes, while men are assigned higher-visibility projects
• Lack of flexibility: rigid work arrangements that disproportionately affect employees with caring responsibilities, who are more often women

If any of these patterns exist in your business, addressing them starts with understanding what the law requires.

Know your legal obligations

Australian employers have clear legal obligations around gender equality, and the rules have recently been strengthened. Staying compliant protects your business and your employees.

The key pieces of legislation you should know about include:

• Sex Discrimination Act 1984: prohibits discrimination based on sex, marital status, pregnancy, and family responsibilities
• Fair Work Act 2009: includes equal remuneration provisions and protections against workplace discrimination
• Secure Jobs, Better Pay Act: effective from 7 June 2023, this strengthened pay transparency and multi-employer bargaining provisions
• Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Setting Gender Equality Targets) Act: effective from 1 April 2026, this requires WGEA-reporting employers to set and work towards measurable gender equality targets

WGEA reporting requirements

If your business has 100 or more employees, you're required to report annually to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA). Since 2024, employer gender pay gaps have been published publicly on the WGEA website, increasing transparency and accountability.

Under the new 2026 legislation, reporting employers must also set specific, measurable gender equality targets. These targets are designed to move beyond reporting alone and drive genuine progress.

Even if your business has fewer than 100 employees, tracking your own pay and representation data is a smart practice. It helps you identify issues early and positions you well if reporting thresholds change. The Australian Government's Working Future: The Australian Government's White Paper on Jobs and Opportunities outlines the broader policy direction for workplace equality.

One of the most visible signs of gender inequality is the pay gap, so it's important to understand what it means and where it stands today.

Understanding the gender pay gap

The gender pay gap is the difference between the average earnings of men and women in the workforce. It's not the same as unequal pay for the same job, though that can be a contributing factor.

As of March 2026, the national gender pay gap in Australia sits at approximately 21.1%, according to WGEA data. That means women earn, on average, around $26,390 less per year than men.

The pay gap varies significantly by industry:

• Construction and mining tend to have gaps above 30%
• Financial and insurance services consistently show above-average gaps
• Healthcare and social assistance have narrower gaps, though they still exist
• Professional, scientific, and technical services sit in the mid-range

The gap reflects a combination of factors, from the types of industries women work in, to career breaks for caring responsibilities, to unconscious bias in hiring and promotion.

To close the gender pay gap, it helps to understand what's driving it.

6 key factors driving the gender pay gap

The gender pay gap doesn't have a single cause. It's the result of multiple, overlapping factors that affect women's earning potential across their careers.

The 6 key factors include:

1. Conscious and unconscious bias: assumptions about competence, commitment, or suitability based on gender can influence hiring, pay negotiations, and promotion decisions, even when decision-makers don't realise it.
2. Industry segregation: women are overrepresented in lower-paid industries like healthcare, education, and retail, while men dominate higher-paid sectors such as mining, construction, and finance.
3. Lack of workplace flexibility: when flexible work arrangements aren't available or are stigmatised, employees with caring responsibilities (disproportionately women) are forced to reduce hours or leave the workforce entirely.
4. High part-time work rates for women: women are significantly more likely to work part-time than men, often due to caring responsibilities. Part-time roles typically offer fewer opportunities for progression and lower lifetime earnings.
5. Career breaks for caring: taking time out of the workforce to care for children or elderly family members directly reduces earnings and superannuation savings. Women take the majority of these breaks in Australia.
6. Disproportionate unpaid caring and domestic work: even when working full-time, women perform more unpaid domestic and caring work than men on average, limiting the time and energy available for career advancement.

Understanding these factors can help you identify where your business might be contributing to the gap, even unintentionally.

Once you understand the root causes, you can take practical steps to address pay inequality in your own business.

How to close the gender pay gap in your business

Closing the gender pay gap requires deliberate action. Here are practical steps you can take, regardless of your business size.

1. Conduct a pay audit: review what you're paying employees in comparable roles. Look at base salary, bonuses, overtime, and superannuation contributions. If you find gaps, create a plan to address them.
2. Set transparent pay ranges: define clear salary bands for each role and share them during recruitment. Transparency reduces the chance of bias creeping into pay decisions.
3. Standardise pay reviews: use consistent criteria for salary increases and bonuses. Remove reliance on negotiation, which tends to disadvantage women.
4. Review your superannuation practices: consider paying superannuation on parental leave and for part-time employees at the same rate as full-time staff, where possible.
5. Use payroll software to track gaps: tools like Xero Payroll can help you monitor pay data by gender and role, making it easier to spot and address disparities.
6. Report and review regularly: even if you're not required to report to WGEA, conducting an internal review each year keeps you accountable and helps you measure progress.

Pay equity is one piece of the puzzle. Bias in hiring and promotion is another area that needs attention.

Recognising unconscious bias in hiring and promotion

Unconscious bias can affect every stage of the employee lifecycle, from the language in your job ads to who gets promoted. Recognising it is the first step to reducing its impact.

Common types of unconscious bias in the workplace include:

• Affinity bias: favouring candidates who are similar to you in background, interests, or demographics
• Attribution bias: attributing a woman's success to luck or teamwork, while attributing a man's success to skill
• Maternal bias: assuming a mother is less committed to her career or less available for demanding roles
• Performance bias: holding women to a higher standard of proof for the same level of recognition

To minimise unconscious bias in your hiring process:

• Use the same structured interview questions for every candidate
• Remove names, ages, and photos from CVs during initial screening
• Include diverse panel members in interviews and promotion decisions
• Use clear, pre-defined criteria for evaluating performance rather than subjective impressions
• Review your job descriptions for gendered language that may discourage applicants

Reducing bias is important, but you also need a way to measure whether your efforts are working.

Measuring gender equality in your business

Tracking the right metrics helps you understand where your business stands and whether your gender equality efforts are making a difference. Without measurement, it's difficult to know if you're improving.

Key metrics to track include:

• Gender pay gap: the percentage difference in average earnings between male and female employees
• Representation by level: the proportion of women at each level of your organisation, from entry-level to leadership
• Hiring ratios: the gender breakdown of applicants, shortlisted candidates, and successful hires
• Promotion rates: how often women are promoted compared to men in similar roles
• Turnover by gender: whether women are leaving your business at higher rates, and if so, why

Aim to review these metrics quarterly. Use your payroll data to generate reports and compare them against WGEA benchmarks for your industry. The WGEA provides free benchmarking tools that let you compare your business against similar employers.

If you spot concerning trends, dig deeper. Exit interviews, employee surveys, and pay audits can all help you understand the story behind the numbers.

Beyond policies and metrics, mentoring is one of the most effective ways to support gender equality in practice.

Encourage the use of mentors

Mentoring programs can make a real difference to gender equality by connecting women with experienced guides who help them build confidence, develop skills, and expand their professional networks.

Mentoring is particularly valuable for:

• Women moving into male-dominated roles or industries
• Employees returning from parental leave or career breaks
• Women seeking leadership positions for the first time

To set up a mentoring program in your business:

1. Match mentors and mentees thoughtfully: consider goals, experience, and working styles rather than assigning pairs randomly.
2. Set clear expectations: define how often pairs will meet, what topics they'll cover, and what success looks like.
3. Include men as mentors and allies: gender equality benefits everyone, and male mentors can help break down barriers and advocate for change.
4. Review and adjust: check in with participants regularly and make changes if the program isn't delivering results.

Even informal mentoring can help. Encouraging senior staff to actively support and sponsor junior women in your team creates a culture where everyone can progress.

Flexible work arrangements and equitable parental leave are also essential to supporting gender equality in your workplace.

Flexible work and parental leave

Flexible work and parental leave policies are closely linked to gender equality. Without them, employees with caring responsibilities are often forced to choose between their careers and their families.

Research shows that only around 33% of Australian employers offer universally available parental leave (that is, the same entitlements regardless of gender or carer status). When parental leave is framed as a benefit primarily for mothers, it reinforces the assumption that caring is women's work and discourages fathers from taking leave.

To support gender equality through your leave and flexibility policies:

• Offer parental leave to all employees regardless of gender, and actively encourage men to take it
• Provide genuine flexible work options, including remote work, flexible hours, and compressed work weeks
• Avoid penalising employees who use flexible arrangements when it comes to pay reviews or promotions
• Support employees returning from parental leave with phased return-to-work plans and mentoring
• Pay superannuation on parental leave where possible, to reduce the long-term financial impact of career breaks

Flexibility should be a standard feature of your workplace, not a special arrangement. When everyone has access to it, the stigma disappears and the playing field levels out.

There are a number of free resources available to help you take action on gender equality.

Resources and support for gender equality

You don't need to figure this out alone. Several Australian government agencies and organisations offer free tools, data, and guidance to help businesses of all sizes improve gender equality.

Useful resources include:

• Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA): provides benchmarking tools, best practice guides, and reporting frameworks at wgea.gov.au
• Fair Work Ombudsman: offers guidance on pay equity, discrimination, and flexible work entitlements at fairwork.gov.au
• Australian Human Rights Commission: publishes research and guidelines on gender equality and discrimination at humanrights.gov.au
• Champions of Change Coalition: a leadership-led initiative focused on achieving gender equality in the workplace

For tracking pay data and running payroll reports by gender, Xero's payroll software can help you stay on top of your numbers and spot trends early.

Track pay equity and support gender equality with Xero

Closing the gender pay gap starts with understanding your numbers. Xero's cloud accounting and payroll tools can help you track employee pay data, run reports, and identify gaps so you can take meaningful action.

With Xero, you can:

• Run payroll reports broken down by role, level, and gender
• Monitor pay trends over time to measure your progress
• Stay on top of superannuation obligations for all employees, including those on parental leave
• Streamline your compliance with Australian employment and payroll requirements

Try Xero for your business and get one month free.

FAQs on gender equality in the workplace

Here are some frequently asked questions about gender equality in the workplace.

What is an example of gender equality in the workplace?

An example is paying men and women the same salary for comparable roles with similar experience levels. Other examples include offering equal parental leave to all genders, using structured hiring processes that reduce bias, and ensuring women have equal access to promotion opportunities.

Do small businesses need to report to WGEA?

Businesses with fewer than 100 employees aren't currently required to report to WGEA. However, tracking your own pay and representation data voluntarily is good practice. It helps you identify issues early, and the reporting threshold could change in future.

How can payroll software help track gender equality?

Payroll software like Xero lets you generate reports on employee pay by role, level, and gender. This makes it easier to spot pay gaps, track trends over time, and measure the impact of any changes you make. Consistent data is the foundation of meaningful action.

What's the first step to improve gender equality in my workplace?

Start with a pay audit. Review what you're paying employees in comparable roles and check for unexplained differences between genders. From there, you can set targets, update your hiring processes, and build a plan to close any gaps you find.

What changed with the 2026 gender equality legislation?

The Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Setting Gender Equality Targets) Act took effect on 1 April 2026. It requires employers who report to WGEA (those with 100 or more employees) to set specific, measurable gender equality targets. This moves beyond reporting alone and holds businesses accountable for making progress.