Gender Equality

Application

This Policy applies to all departments and public sector bodies of the State of Victoria and their non-executive level employees, as defined under the Public Administration Act 2004 (Vic) (PA Act) and other Victorian legislation.

Overview

The Victorian Government is committed to achieving gender equality in Victoria, and a public sector that is free of gender-based inequalities and discrimination, in which all employees can achieve their full potential regardless of gender. The Government recognises that gender bias and discrimination can occur at any point throughout employment including in recruitment, remuneration, training and development opportunities, career progression, access to leave, and responses to family and caring responsibilities, including flexible and part-time work arrangements.

Departments and agencies are expected to take affirmative steps to eliminate the gender pay gap, achieve equal pay for work of equal or comparable value, and to address current and historical systems, behaviours, actions, and attitudes that contribute to the gender pay gap and to other forms of gender inequality. Public sector employers are expected to consult with employees and unions to develop strategies designed to address the gender pay gap and gender inequality across the public sector.

Gender Equality Act 2020

The Gender Equality Act 2020 (Vic) (GE Act) requires certain state and local government organisations and universities (Defined Entities/ Duty Holders) to consider and promote gender equality within their organisation and to take necessary and proportionate action towards achieving gender equality.

Public sector agencies with less than 50 employees are not Defined Entities for the purposes of the GE Act but are nonetheless expected to review the obligations under the Act and undertake the requirements where they can. Even where not a Defined Entity, all public sector employers are expected to promote gender equality and to take any necessary and proportionate actions towards achieving gender equality.

Further information on the GE Act, including the objects of the GE Act and the obligations on public sector employers, can be found at https://www.genderequalitycommission.vic.gov.au/.

Public Sector Gender Equality Commissioner

The GE Act also establishes a Public Sector Gender Equality Commissioner whose roles include promoting and advancing the objectives of the GE Act; supporting Defined Entities to improve gender equality and comply with the GE Act; and ensuring compliance with the requirements of the GE Act.

Dispute resolution powers of the Gender Equality Commissioner

Under the GE Act, the Gender Equality Commissioner may also deal with a dispute arising under an enterprise agreement or workplace determination covering a public service department or agency, where the enterprise agreement allows. A dispute may relate to a systemic gender equality issue, where the agreement or workplace determination includes a clause that provides for this. All public sector enterprise agreements are expected to include a clause providing for referral of disputes relating to a systemic gender equality issue to the Gender Equality Commissioner. To assist, a model provision has been provided at Attachment A.

Gender pay equity principles

To underpin the Government’s commitment to gender equity in the Victorian public sector, the following gender pay equity principles for the public sector have been adopted (as per the Gender Equality Regulations 2020):

• Principle 1 – Establishing equal pay for work of equal or comparable value. Equal or comparable value refers to work valued as equal in terms of skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions. This includes work of different types.
• Principle 2 – Freedom from bias and discrimination. Employment and pay practices are free from the effects of unconscious bias and assumptions based on gender.
• Principle 3 – Transparency and accessibility. Employment and pay practices, pay rates and systems are transparent. Information is readily accessible and understandable.
• Principle 4 – Relationship between paid and unpaid work. Employment and pay practices recognise and account for different patterns of labour force participation by workers who are undertaking unpaid and/or caring work.
• Principle 5 – Sustainability. Interventions and solutions are collectively developed and agreed, sustainable and enduring.
• Principle 6 – Participation and engagement. Employers, unions and employees work collaboratively to achieve mutually agreed outcomes.
• Principle 7 – Recognising intersectional gender inequality. Employment and pay practices account for and recognise that gender inequality may be compounded by other forms of disadvantage or discrimination that a person may experience based on factors including age, disability, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation and being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent.

Public sector Gender Equality expectations

Comply with the GE Act

Public sector employers that are Defined Entities under the GE Act are required to comply with their enforceable statutory obligations under that Act. Public sector employers that are not Defined Entities for the purposes of the GE Act are nonetheless expected to review the obligations under that Act and act in accordance with the requirements of that Act wherever possible.

Act in accordance with the gender pay equity principles

All public sector employers are expected to conduct themselves consistently with the above stated gender equity pay principles.

Ensure transparency of pay practices

Pay transparency and accessibility is essential to eliminating gender pay gaps. To support the elimination of bias and discrimination in pay practices, public sector agencies are expected to take appropriate steps to ensure remuneration arrangements are transparent to employees, including by capturing all pay scales within enterprise agreements.

Consider flexible ways of working

Women and men have different patterns of participation in the paid workforce, primarily because women spend a greater proportion of their time on unpaid and/or caring work. This can lead to women being disadvantaged in areas such as pay, progression, security of employment and retirement income. Acknowledging this, public sector agencies are expected to:

• design and allocate work in a manner that allows for different patterns of employment, taking into account the impact of unpaid and caring work on women’s employment patterns and outcomes; and
• remove barriers to employment, progression and employment security associated with women’s disproportionate experience of unpaid work and caring responsibilities outside of the workplace.

Incorporate measures in enterprise agreements to resolve systemic gender equality issues and promote gender equity

The promotion of gender equity is identified as a key Public Sector Priority under the Government’s Wages Policy and Enterprise Bargaining Framework, capturing initiatives such as the elimination of the gender pay gap. Enterprise bargaining, as the primary mechanism for setting terms and conditions of employment for public sector employees, presents an opportunity for public sector agencies to remove or reduce the structures, processes or entitlements which may act as an impediment to achieving gender pay equity.

As a part of bargaining, public sector entities should also review their enterprise agreements to identify structures or processes which may contribute to gender pay inequity. Opportunities for reform will vary from agreement to agreement but may include:

• amending entitlements to encourage a more equal share of caring responsibilities between parents,
• providing increased access to paid parental leave by reducing or removing qualifying periods or increasing paid parental leave entitlements above the minimum levels required by the Government’s Public Sector Industrial Relations Policies,
• introducing initiatives which seek to minimise the impact of absence for parental leave of up 52 weeks on performance-based pay advancements or progression,
• introducing initiatives which seek to address the disparity in retirement income arising from long periods out of the workforce to have or care for children, and/or
• requiring agreements to be interpreted or applied with the gender equality implications in mind.

All public sector agencies are also encouraged to include the Gender Equality model provision in their enterprise agreements, which provides a mechanism to resolve systemic gender equity and equality issues (Attachment A).

Undertake commitments to improve operational practices in their Best Practice Employment Commitments

In addition to structural reform to enterprise agreement processes or entitlements, agencies should also review and identify current operational practices that may contribute to or exacerbate the gender pay gap and other gender based inequities.

In accordance with the Government’s Wages Policy and Enterprise Bargaining Framework, public sector employers must also make a Best Practice Employment Commitment (BPEC) which outlines measures to operationalise elements of the Public Sector Priorities, including measures that promote gender equity.

Opportunities for operational reform will vary across workplaces but may include commitments to:

• review renumeration and pay policies and practices, including on appointment, promotion, or reclassification to ensure they are transparent and fair, and conduct gender pay equity audits to identify practices and areas that may be improved
• adopt affirmative practices to encourage women to accept roles in work areas/roles traditionally dominated by men
• provide equitable access to flexible working arrangements, and ensure that employees on flexible working arrangements have access to meaningful work and the same benefits, training and promotional opportunities as employees working in more traditional ways
• review position descriptions to ensure all roles are fully and fairly described and equally valued, and work value factors such as skill, level of responsibility and working conditions consistently measured, regardless of whether roles are in industries traditionally dominated by men or women.
• ensure recruitment, and performance development and progression policies are applied equally regardless of gender
• ensure workplace policies minimise the effects of long-term leave (such as parental leave) on remuneration, promotional opportunities, and performance development and progression outcomes
• introduce training to increase awareness of gender stereotyping and conscious/unconscious bias
• review instances of insecure work arrangements for gender pay impacts.

Public sector employers should ensure that, when reviewing operational practices, consideration is given to whether gender inequality may be compounded by other forms of disadvantage or discrimination, on the basis of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, age, disability, ethnicity, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation or other attributes, that may be experienced across different workforces.

Consult and engage with Employees and Unions in the implementation of Gender Equality Measures

Government expects that public sector employers engage with unions and employees in a transparent and collaborative manner throughout the development of any Gender Equality Measures as required by the GE Act or this policy. Employers should actively engage with their employees in a way which is inclusive and recognises their diversity and different perspectives.

Further Information

For further information and advice employees and public sector union representatives should contact the local Human Resources or People and Culture Unit (or equivalent) of the relevant entity for further assistance in the first instance.

People and Culture Representatives of Public Sector Entities should contact their Portfolio Department for further assistance in the first instance.

People and Culture Representatives of Portfolio Departments should contact their usual IRV portfolio contact for further assistance in the first instance.

Related Policies or Documents

• Parental Leave, Personal/Carers Leave and Compassionate Leave Policy
• Commission for Gender Equality in the Public Sector website

Attachment A