You are required to report on gender impact assessments (GIAs) that you undertook during the reporting period.
The Act requires organisations to conduct a GIA when developing or reviewing any policy, program or service with a direct and significant impact on the public.
Do not report on any GIAs conducted on internal workforce policies or programs that did not have a direct and significant impact on the public (for example, a flexible work policy or staff training program).
Only report on GIAs in this progress report if:
- it is clear how the policy, program or service will be, or has been, changed because of the GIA, or
- no change will be made (and this is clear).
Clear changes, or lack of changes, due to a GIA can include:
- all GIA recommendations were approved for action by the person responsible for making these decisions (scenario 1, below)
- some GIA recommendations were approved for action by the person responsible for making these decisions (scenario 2, below)
- all GIA recommendations were rejected by the person responsible for making these decisions (scenario 3, below)
If decisions have not been made yet, do not report on the GIA in this reporting period. Instead, report on it in the next reporting period, once the decisions have been made (scenario 4, below).
The table below sets out some example scenarios.
This step includes required and recommended action items.
You are required to report on gender impact assessments (GIAs) that you undertook during the reporting period.
The Act requires organisations to conduct a GIA when developing or reviewing any policy, program or service with a direct and significant impact on the public.
Do not report on any GIAs conducted on internal workforce policies or programs that did not have a direct and significant impact on the public (for example, a flexible work policy or staff training program).
Only report on GIAs in this progress report if:
- it is clear how the policy, program or service will be, or has been, changed because of the GIA, or
- no change will be made (and this is clear).
Clear changes, or lack of changes, due to a GIA can include:
- all GIA recommendations were approved for action by the person responsible for making these decisions (scenario 1, below)
- some GIA recommendations were approved for action by the person responsible for making these decisions (scenario 2, below)
- all GIA recommendations were rejected by the person responsible for making these decisions (scenario 3, below)
If decisions have not been made yet, do not report on the GIA in this reporting period. Instead, report on it in the next reporting period, once the decisions have been made (scenario 4, below).
The table below sets out some example scenarios.
| Scenario | Description | How to report |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A GIA was undertaken on a water corporation public policy during the reporting period. Several recommendations were made. All were approved for implementation by the CEO. | Report on this GIA. Select ‘yes’ in column F. Describe the actions in column G. |
| 2 | A GIA was undertaken on a Victorian Government department’s public program. Several recommendations were made. Some recommendations were approved, and some were rejected by the relevant Deputy Secretary. | Report on this GIA. Select ‘yes’ in column F. Describe the approved actions in column G. |
| 3 | A GIA was undertaken on a public health service’s public program. Several recommendations were made. No recommendations will be implemented due to resourcing decisions by senior leaders. | Report on this GIA. Select ‘no’ in column F. Describe why no actions were taken in column H. |
| 4 | A GIA was undertaken on a local government policy impacting the public. Several recommendations were made. No decision has been reached yet as to which recommendations will be approved. This is because Council has not yet considered the proposal. | Do not report on this GIA. If the GIA is finalised in the next reporting period, report on this GIA in the next progress report. |
In this step, you will find:
- 1.1 Confirming your GIA exemptions (required)
- 1.2 Describing policies, programs or services subject to a GIA (required and recommended items)
- 1.3 Describing actions taken as a result of a GIA (required and recommended items)
1.1 Confirming GIA exemptions (required)
Summary
- If applicable, select the permitted reason why you have not listed any policy, program or service that was subject to a GIA.
- You can select more than one reason.
- Explain how the reason(s) apply to you.
- Select ‘None of these apply’ and write ‘NA’ under explanation if the exemptions don’t apply.
Section 19(4) of the Act sets out the permitted reasons why you might not be able to identify or report on policies, programs and services subject to a GIA.
In some cases, you may not have been required to undertake any GIAs in the reporting period.
If you have a permitted reason for not reporting on any GIAs you must report this so the Commissioner knows you have complied with the Act.
Permitted reasons include at least one of the following:
- doing so would make the progress report an exempt document within the meaning of the Freedom of Information Act 1982
- doing so would result in a disclosure prohibited by a different Act
- doing so would reveal confidential information
- the entity had no policies, programs or services that met the Act’s threshold for a GIA(opens in a new window).
Advice for demonstrating compliance
You will receive an outcome of ‘compliance not demonstrated’(opens in a new window) if you:
- do not report on policies, programs and services that were subject to a GIA, and
- do not select the permitted reason and explain the reason further.
Privacy obligations
You have obligations under relevant privacy legislation that you must comply with. You must not report on a policy, program or service if it would disclose confidential or prohibited information.
In addition to the permitted reasons, this may also include information that is considered Cabinet in Confidence (for Victorian Public Service departments).
For further advice, contact the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC)(opens in a new window) and consider exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act(opens in a new window).
You may also wish to seek legal advice.
1.2 Describing policies, programs or services subject to a GIA (required and recommended)
Summary
- Identify each policy, program or service that was the subject of a GIA during the reporting period.
- Only include GIAs done on policies, programs or services that have a direct and significant impact on the public.
- Only include GIAs that have been completed, where final decisions have been made about whether to change the policy, program or service.
- Exclude any policies, programs or services that would disclose confidential information.
- Add more rows as needed.
- List one policy, program or service per row.
- You must fill in all required elements to be compliant with your obligations under the Act.
Instructions for completing the template
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Reference number (‘ref #’) (pre-filled) | This is prefilled in the template. You will need the reference number to provide further information against each policy, program or service in the next table under (G) (1.3 Describing actions taken as a result of GIA). |
(A) Title (required)
| Insert the name of the relevant policy, program or service that was the subject of the GIA. |
(B) Subject (required)
| Select from the drop-down if the GIA was done on a policy, program or service. Find definitions of policies, programs and services(opens in a new window) in our glossary of terms. |
| (C) Description of the policy, program or service (required) | Provide a brief and clear description of the policy, program or service. You should provide enough detail here for the Commissioner to understand the context of the policy, program or service.
|
(D) Status (required)
| Select from the drop-down menu to indicate if the GIA was done on a policy, program or service that was new or up for review. |
(E) Description of gendered impacts (recommended)
| Describe the gendered impacts you identified when completing a GIA on this policy, program or service. Gendered impacts are the areas where a GIA revealed that people of different genders might be impacted in different ways. These insights may have shown you where and how the policy, program or service needed to be changed. Completing this column will assist you to complete section 1.3 describe the actions taken as a result of the GIA (under (G)). Any actions taken as a result of your GIA should link directly to the gendered impacts you describe here. |
1.3 Describing actions taken as a result of a GIA (required and recommended)
Summary
- Describe the actions taken as a result of undertaking a GIA.
- Use the reference number (‘ref #’) from table 1 to link your GIA description to the relevant policy, program or service.
- Add more rows as needed.
Instructions for completing the template
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Reference number (ref #) | This is prefilled in the template. The reference number refers to the listed policy, program or service in the previous table under (A) of 1.2 Describing policies, programs and services subject to GIA. |
| (F) Were actions taken as a result of the GIA? (required) | Select ‘yes’ or ‘no’ from the drop-down to indicate whether you took action (or not) as a result of the GIA. Do this for every policy, program or service you listed. If actions were taken, select ‘yes’. There may be cases where several recommendations were made but not all actions were approved. In this case you should still select ‘yes’ if some actions were approved. If actions weren’t taken:
|
(G) Describe the actions taken as a result of the GIA in order to: meet the needs of people of different genders promote gender equality address gender inequality.
(required)
| Describe how the actions taken as a result of the GIA:
Do this for every policy, program or service you listed. Report only on completed GIAs. Explain how the actions to develop or change your policy, program or service will achieve better outcomes for people of different genders. If you are unsure how the actions relate to better outcomes for people of different genders, refer to the gender equality principles (section 6 of the Act), research or evidence to better understand how the actions drive progress towards gender equality. Only report on completed GIAs in your progress report. This means that if no final decision has been made about whether to change the policy, program or service, the GIA should be included in the next progress report. Advice for demonstrating compliance Make sure you include information on how your actions met the needs of people of different genders, addressed gender inequality or promoted gender equality. If it is not clear that the actions you describe help meet the above goals, you may receive an outcome of ‘compliance not demonstrated’.
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| (H) If you did not take action as a result of the GIA, explain why (required) | Describe the reason(s) why no action was taken on your policy, program or service as a result of the GIA. If actions were taken:
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| (I) Describe how and why intersectionality was considered (or not) (required) | Describe how you considered intersectionality. If you did not consider intersectionality, explain why. Do this for every policy, program or service you listed. When undertaking a GIA, the Act requires duty holders to take into account, where practicable, how gender inequality can be compounded by disadvantage or discrimination that groups of people may experience. This is called intersectional gender equality(opens in a new window). To do an intersectional analysis, you should consider the impact of your policies, programs or services on people who experience compounding forms of discrimination on the basis of gender and other factors (for example, being a woman with disability, being a First Nations woman, or being a gender diverse person from a culturally or racially marginalised background). Factors can include:
Compounded gender inequality can be considered across more than one stage of a GIA. You might consider:
For many organisations, taking intersectional gender equality into account is a new practice. Documenting and reporting on any intersectional analysis here will support capability-building across all duty holders. If you were unable to consider compounded gender inequality when doing the GIA, you must explain why this was not practicable in this section.
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| (J) Describe any actions taken specifically designed to address intersectional inequalities (compounded gender inequalities) (recommended) | Describe any actions taken to address issues you identified when considering compounded gender inequality. You can cross-reference the actions you already described, if relevant (under (G)).
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