From 2026, Australian organisations with 500+ employees will need to do more than report their gender equality data — they’ll also be required to set and work towards three formal targets from WGEA’s legislated menu. It’s a big shift, designed to accelerate progress and accountability.
At WORK180, we’ve been working closely with our Endorsed Employers to prepare for these changes, and we’ve noticed the same questions come up time and again. In our free live sessions on navigating WGEA targets — the latest featuring Mary Wooldridge, CEO of WGEA — we’ve also heard some excellent (and sometimes tricky) questions that we know more employers will be asking soon.
So we’ve pulled together the most common and insightful queries — along with the answers shared by our DEI experts and Mary — so even more teams can learn, prepare, and move forward with clear, practical guidance.
Part 1:
General WGEA Target FAQs
Q. Who is covered by the new rules?
The legislation applies to organisations that directly employ 500 or more people in Australia under a single Australian Business Number (ABN, which is the unique 11-digit identifier issued to every business entity operating in Australia).
The 500 headcount includes all employees — full-time, part-time, fixed-term and casual. Independent contractors are not counted, and neither are partners in a partnership.
Q. What do we need to do?
Employers that meet the threshold must select three gender equality targets from WGEA’s official menu of 19 options. At least one must be a numeric target (for example, increasing the share of the under-represented gender in management). The remaining two can be numeric or action-based (such as introducing a new policy or upgrading an existing one).
You can also set internal goals outside the menu, but only the three chosen from WGEA’s list will count for compliance.
Q. When does this start, and how long do we have?
- Private sector employers will select targets when submitting their Gender Equality Report in May 2026.
- Public sector employers will do so in October 2026.
That reporting year becomes your baseline year. WGEA will then assess whether you’ve met or at least improved against each target at the end of a three-year cycle (in 2029 for those starting in 2026).
Q. What happens if we don’t meet our targets?
There are no financial penalties, but there are serious consequences:
- WGEA may publicly name non-compliant employers in Parliament and on its website.
- You may lose your WGEA Certificate of Compliance, which makes you ineligible to tender for Commonwealth government contracts and grants.
- Reputational risks are real: candidates, employees, customers and investors increasingly expect organisations to act on gender equality, not just talk about it.
As Mary Wooldridge explained in our session, “this isn’t about punishment — it’s about accountability and transparency. Employers need to show progress and commitment, and that information will be visible to employees, shareholders and the public.”
Q. Do the targets always need to focus on women?
No. The targets are about addressing imbalance. In woman-dominated industries (like healthcare or education), employers can set goals to increase men’s representation or boost the proportion of men taking parental leave.
Q. Can we use our existing internal goals?
Yes, if your current goals are included in WGEA’s approved list. If they’re not, you can still pursue them internally, but they won’t count towards the three targets you must report against.
Q. Do our gender equality targets need to be written into policy?
WGEA doesn’t require you to write your targets into company policies or strategies. That said, many leading employers choose to formalise their targets in this way because it makes them easier to:
- Track — everyone is working from the same baseline and expectations.
- Review — progress can be checked consistently over time.
- Share — employees and stakeholders can clearly see how the goals connect to business priorities.
And the impact is clear: by setting and tracking the right targets, in the right way, employers we work with are achieving gender diversity improvements up to 12 times faster than their industry peers.
In other words, while embedding your targets in policy isn’t compulsory, it’s a smart way to build accountability and turn commitments into meaningful change.
Part 2:
Some great questions from our live session Q&As
Q. Do targets have to cover the whole organisation?
No. You can set business-unit or division-specific targets where they make the most sense, as long as they feed into your overall progress.
Q. Do different policies count separately?
Yes, however it depends on the selected target and related policy. For example, if an equitable pay and performance policy is updated in alignment with the WGEA target requirements, this could support the ‘equal remuneration and gender pay equity policy’ action target. Whereas updates to a parental leave or flexible working policy improving increased parental leave allowances and supports could be recognised as an action target on flexible work offerings for employees, or improving parental supports/employer funded paid parental leave.
Q. Can reproductive leave or menopause policies count as WGEA targets?
Not right now. These are not part of WGEA’s legislated menu, so they don’t count towards your three formal targets. However, many progressive employers are adopting them voluntarily to improve inclusion and retention.
Q. What happens between 2027 and 2029?
You’ll continue to submit your annual Gender Equality Report. WGEA will track your progress using the data you provide each year and then make a final assessment at the end of the three-year cycle.
Q. How are contractors and partners treated in the 500-employee threshold?
- Counted: full-time, part-time, casual, and fixed-term employees directly employed under your ABN.
- Not counted: independent contractors and business partners in a partnership structure.
Q. What if we’re already a woman-dominated organisation?
That’s fine. In this case, your numeric targets may focus on men — for example, increasing male representation in leadership roles or encouraging more men to take parental leave.
What to do next
You and your team don’t need to figure this out alone:
- Join our next free live session in the Navigating WGEA Targets series.
- Stay up to date with the latest guidance and developments by following WORK180 and/or Gemma Lloyd on LinkedIn.
- For updates and guidance delivered straight to your inbox, sign up to our free mailing list.
If you’d prefer to find out exactly how WORK180 successfully supports companies in setting and meeting the gender equity targets — and specifically how we can help your company — please feel free to book a call with our team.
Our hands-on experience supporting employers in setting and meeting targets is seeing them drive gender diversity 12x faster than their industry peers!
