Following the Federal Government's introduction of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Amendment Bill 2012 in March last year, employers have been preparing for the introduction of a more stringent reporting regime when it comes to gender equality in the workplace.

The Bill has since passed both houses of Parliament and, following its Royal Assent in December 2012, has come into force as the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 (Cth) (WGE Act).

The WGE Act creates new reporting standards for private sector employers with over 100 employees and also streamlines the reporting obligations from the previous regime. On a practical level, the WGE Act has replaced the Equal Opportunity in the Workplace Act 1999 (Cth) (EOW Act) while also establishing a new Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) whose role is to ensure that employers regulated by the new legislation comply with their obligations under the WGE Act.