Gender Equality Amendment Regulations 2021

Published:: Thursday 30 December 2021 at 3:53 pm

The Commission for Gender Equality in the Public Sector is pleased to announce that on 21 December 2021 the Victorian Government released the Gender Equality Amendment Regulations 2021. This is the second stage of regulations relating to the Gender Equality Act 2020.

The new Regulations will come into effect on 1 February 2022. They help clarify parts of the Act and make it easier for certain defined entities to meet their obligations.

The regulations:

prescribe universities as Designated Bodies, therefore expanding the scope of the Public Sector Gender Equality Commissioner’s dispute resolution function to include universities
provide an alternate data capture period for the purpose of universities’ workplace gender audits to align with existing obligations under Commonwealth legislation, and
incorporate a set of gender pay equity principles into the Act, which defined entities must have regard to when developing their Gender Equality Action Plan (GEAP).

The Commission conducted both targeted and public consultations with a range of stakeholders to ensure they were aware of the changes and to gather feedback on the proposed Regulations. The Commission would like to thank everyone who took part in consultation and helped to shape the final Regulations.

The Commission is working to develop detailed guidance materials to accompany the Regulations. These materials will reflect stakeholder feedback and include clear guidance on how to fulfil and apply each of the gender pay equity principles in the Regulations, and how to address the gender pay equity principles in a GEAP.