Step 2: Analyse your audit data to identify forms of gender inequality

Analyse your 2025 workplace gender audit data. This helps you understand the gender inequalities in your organisation.

View the Analysing your workplace gender audit results(opens in a new window) guidance note for more on this topic.

2.1 Include the results of your audit in your GEAP (required)

Include the results and analysis of your workplace gender audit in your GEAP. Some ways of including this audit data are:

provide data against each workplace gender equality indicator (refer to ‘Completing the GEAP template’ box at the end of this step)
explain the outcomes of your analysis (refer to the ‘Completing the GEAP template’ box at the end of this step).

You could also:

include a more detailed analysis of your data. Use the space at the end of the GEAP template (or an appendix, if you choose not to use the template)
use infographics, summaries and graphs. You can add an appendix or add more to the ‘Any other additions or comment’ (optional) if you choose not to use the template.

Refer to the 2025 audit guidanc(opens in a new window)e for instructions on collecting and submitting your audit data.

Upload your audit data to the reporting platform(opens in a new window). Use the reports on the reporting platform to help you analyse the data.

Using the performance measures

We encourage you to provide audit data for the performance measures for each indicator.

These measures set out the minimum expectations for this data.

We chose them because:

they provide the minimum data you need to get started
they help you focus on the most important data
they are simple and easy to talk your stakeholders about
you already collect this data as part of your audit.

Using the performance measures helps you see connections. It will also help you drive and assess progress.

If you do not use the performance measures

You do not have to use the performance measures in your GEAP. You can include different data from your audit.

However, the measures are practical and represent benchmark data.

If your organisation is more progressed in its gender equality journey, you can use your own data as well as the performance measures.

You may provide alternative data to the performance measures. The Commissioner will determine whether this is appropriate and adequate. Refer to the guide on how to analyse your data.

Your organisation may not have data against all the performance measures from 2023 and 2025. This will not impact your compliance.

If you do not currently collect data against one or more of the performance measures, consider a strategy to collect this data in future.

For further guidance on how to use the performance measures to evaluate the success (or not) of your strategies, refer to 6.2 Setting measures(opens in a new window).

About the performance measures

There are 2 types of measures.

The first is critical measures. These are minimum measures.

These are considered the minimum data to understand gender inequality in your organisation.

You can achieve compliance without providing data against them. However, the Commissioner prefers that you use these measures.

The second is supplementary measures. These are recommended for duty holders with capacity for further analysis.

Providing data against supplementary measures helps you understand gender inequality issues in your organisation.

To view the performance measures in full, visit Performance Measures.(opens in a new window)

2.2 Identify underlying causes of inequality in your organisation (recommended)

The workplace gender equality indicators are:

Gender composition of all levels of the workforce
Gender composition of the governing body
Equal remuneration for work of equal or comparable value across all levels of the workforce, irrespective of gender
Sexual harassment in the workplace
Recruitment and promotion practices in the workplace
Availability and utilisation of terms, conditions and practices relating to family violence leave, flexible working arrangements, and working arrangements supporting employees with family or caring responsibilities
Gendered segregation within the workplace

You can read more about the workplace gender equality (opens in a new window)indicators(opens in a new window) on the Commissioner’s website.

Your audit data will reveal any inequalities based on gender (and possibly other forms of discrimination).

However, it will not explain why or how those inequalities came about.

Understanding the root causes of inequalities is vital to help develop practical solutions.

The following steps will help you understand what is behind any inequalities revealed in your data.

Clarify the problem

Start by identifying inequalities in relation to the workplace gender equality indicators in the Act. Some questions to think about include:

What is the workforce and employee experience data telling me?
What further data or evidence do we have on these issues?
What gaps or discrepancies are there in the data?
What do I know about the problems? What don’t I know about the problems?
How does the problem impact those who may experience intersecting disadvantages?

Analyse the problem

Investigate the root causes of problems. This helps you understand why these problems exist.

It ensures your strategies address the underlying causes, not just the symptoms.

Consider how organisational culture, policies and practices contribute to workplace gender inequality. Examine any inequalities that you find against the workplace gender equality indicators.

Consider:

Why does the problem exist? What are the causes of gender and other inequalities?
- To understand the gender pay gap, check if your organisation has jobs done mainly by one gender. For example: Most machine operators are men. They earn more than the administrative staff, who are mostly women and gender-diverse people. This could explain part of your pay gap. Gender segregation might be a reason for the gender pay gap.

Use the ‘but why?’ technique to identify root causes.

Start by examining a problem and ask, ‘But why?’

Repeat asking ‘but why?’ until you uncover the root cause.

This is best done through consultation with key stakeholders. You can also use evidence-based research on gender inequality to understand root causes.

Find out more about the ‘but why?’ technique on the Community Toolbox website(opens in a new window).

Read the Commission’s Baseline report – 2021 workplace gender audit data analysis(opens in a new window) to learn more about the root causes of inequality on each workplace gender equality indicator.

If possible, consider which groups experience the problem more or differently. This includes Aboriginal women, women with disabilities, culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) women, trans men et cetera.

How are people affected by the problem?
How do existing organisational policies, practices and culture contribute to the problem?
How do external factors influence the problem?
Why have previous efforts to address these inequalities not been successful?
What needs to change?
What additional information or data do we need to better understand these problems?
How do employee perceptions and experiences align with our data?

Some of these questions are best asked during your consultation (refer to step 3(opens in a new window)).

However, it is helpful to research them first. You can then test your findings during consultation.

The Commissioner’s Baseline report: 2021 workplace gender audit data analysis(opens in a new window) has further information on each of the indicators.

Problem statement

Create problem statements related to each workplace gender equality indicator. Problem statements create a shared understanding of the problems.

First, analyse your audit data. Then, include a problem statement to summarise your analysis. This is usually one or two sentences long, using plain language.

Example problem statements:

Gender pay equity: The gender pay gap hinders gender equality in our workplace. Women earn, on average, $12,000 a year less than men. This gap is because women are concentrated in lower levels of our organisation and in lower paid areas. Unconscious bias may also play a role, as women in our organisation are not being trained and promoted equally.
Gendered segregation: Gendered segregation in our workplace remains a critical issue. Women hold 85% of administrative roles. Men hold 90% of engineering and maintenance roles. Administrative roles pay, on average, less then engineering roles. This imbalance reinforces gendered stereotypes. This contributes to our gender pay gap and limits diversity in decision making.

Prioritise problems to address

Your analysis may have revealed lots of problems.

Prioritise the biggest issues for each of the workplace gender equality indicators(opens in a new window).

Make sure you understand the root causes of the problems.

Under the Act, you must be able to demonstrate reasonable and material progress in addressing at least some aspects of inequality on each of the indicators in each 2-year period (if your data shows that inequality exists).

Some questions to think about in prioritising problems to address include:

Which problems have the most impact on our employees and organisation?
What problems are most urgent and require immediate attention?
Which problems, if resolved, would lead to the most impactful and sustainable change?
How do these problems intersect with our vision, goals, and stakeholders' expectations?
How do these problems intersect with the gender equality principles and the gender pay equity principles?

Completing the GEAP template

Instructions for the template that relate to this step can be found in step 6. This is due to how the template is designed.

Please refer to step 6(opens in a new window) for further guidance.

How-to guides

Using a range of data sources to inform your GEAP development
Highlighting where data gaps currently exist and your plan for building data collection
Using intersectional analysis to understand data
Outlining key insights from applying an analysis of intersectional gender inequality
Outlining any other information sources or data that were considered as part of your GEAP development
How to maintain employees’ privacy(opens in a new window)

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