Background

The Gender Equality Act 2020 (the Act) requires all defined entities to develop a Gender Equality Action Plan that includes the results of a workplace gender audit.

The Gender Equality Act 2020 (the Act) requires all defined entities to develop a Gender Equality Action Plan that includes the results of a workplace gender audit. The workplace gender audit must include both workforce data and employee experience data to assess the department against seven workplace gender equality indicators specified in the Act.

The workplace gender equality indicators are:

  1. gender composition at all levels of the workforce
  2. gender composition of governing bodies
  3. gender pay equity
  4. workplace sexual harassment
  5. recruitment and promotion
  6. gendered work segregation, and
  7. leave and flexibility.

This Summary Report includes Victorian Public Service (VPS) and Government Teaching Services (GTS) workforce data (eduPay) and employee experience data related to each of the seven gender equality indicators. The VPS and GTS data is separated into different chapters.

Data sources

Note regarding gender analysis: The department recognises and embraces all gender identities and expressions. The Gender Equality Action Plan focuses on gender equality broadly, including the experiences of trans and gender diverse staff.

However, due to the very low numbers of staff who identify as self-described in eduPay (0.2% of VPS staff and 0.1% of GTS staff), the workforce data analysis focuses on comparisons of women and men. Employee experience data and staff consultations have been utilised to provide insights and feedback regarding the experiences of trans and gender diverse staff within the department.

Workforce data analysis (eduPay)

The department engaged ORIMA Research to provide a descriptive analysis of the gender audit data (extracted the department’s eduPay HR system) to enable an understanding of this data, aligned with the gender equality indicators. ORIMA Research produced a detailed analysis and report describing the data for both VPS and GTS workforces.

This Summary Report will provide a high-level overview of the key findings and themes from ORIMA’s analysis.

People Matter Survey (PMS) 2021

The departmental People Matter Survey (PMS) is undertaken annually and provides information on staff experiences and perceptions. The survey is anonymous and voluntary. In 2021 it was conducted between 31 May and 2 July with 3,739 VPS staff participating. This is response rate of 71% of which 3% are executive officers.

School Gender Equality Survey

The department engaged ORIMA Research to deliver the 2021 School Gender Equality Survey to measure employee experiences of gender equality in their workplace.

The survey was administered to all GTS staff using an online self-completion methodology in September 2021.

Participation in the survey was voluntary, and responses to the survey were confidential. A total of 11,903 school staff participated in the survey, from a total list of N=78,485. This represents a response rate of 15%.

Updated