For many organisations, WGEA’s new gender equality target legislation, which applies to organisations with 500 or more employees in Australia, marks the first time teams will be required to formally set, measure, and publicly share progress on gender equality goals.
With the countdown 2026 reporting deadlines already underway and clear consequences for non-compliance, the pressure is on to get this right.
Our advice? After more than a decade helping organisations set and deliver measurable progress on gender equality targets, we’ve found one consistent key to success: know who your players are, and activate them early.
It takes the whole team
Initial assessment and coordination of the new legislative requirements will typically sit with the team already managing your organisation’s annual WGEA gender equality reporting, usually a Head of HR or DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) Lead.
But while these roles may coordinate the process, they can’t deliver the targets alone…
The new legislation requires organisations to set and demonstrate measurable progress against their targets, making gender equality a whole-of-organisation priority. The most successful companies treat this as a true team effort, built on shared accountability and collaboration across every function
Meet your WGEA Targets Team
Click on each role to explore responsibilities, or download the full WGEA Targets Team Guide (recommended for HR, DEI, Legal, and Communications teams to share internally.)
Core Leadership Team (the engine room)
🧭 Board and Governance
💼 CEO / Managing Director
⚖️ Legal and Compliance
📊 People Analytics and Data Systems
👥 HR and People Leaders
🔄 DEI (Diversity, equity, and inclusion) Leads
Strategic Partners (the drivers of visibility and impact)
💰 Finance and Procurement
💼 Executive Leaders
👩🏽💻 Talent Acquisition
📢 Communications and Brand
Core Leadership Team (The engine room)
🧭 Board and Governance: The Guardians of Accountability
With progress to be published annually, visibility of gender outcomes affects organisational reputation, ESG standing, and access to government tenders (which can be impacted by non-compliance). Your oversight keeps the organisation credible.
Your roles:
- Keep gender equality targets on the board agenda and review progress frequently e.g. quarterly.
- Ask informed questions: Are we on track? What evidence do we have? If progress starts to slow, agree on clear actions and timelines for getting back on course.
- Understand the cost of non-compliance, which includes public naming, reputational damage, and lost tender opportunities.
- Support the CEO and leaders to prioritise resources for target delivery.
Impact:
Strong board oversight protects brand trust and demonstrates that accountability truly starts at the top.
💼 CEO / Managing Director: The Champion for Change
As with your organisation’s annual reporting to WGEA on gender equality indicators, CEO sign-off is also required when you submit and track progress on your three selected targets — ensuring accountability begins where it matters most.
Your roles:
- Engage with your senior leadership team, board, and key relevant stakeholders (e.g. DEI, governance, HR, compliance) to best understand the real challenges and opportunities within the business.
- Communicate the vision clearly, establishing the understanding that this is an organisation-wide priority (not an HR project).
- Approve and sign off on the organisation’s three selected targets and baseline data.
- Embed accountability by linking executive KPIs to gender equality outcomes.
- Resource it properly: assign ownership, time, and funding.
Impact:
When CEOs communicate inclusion as a priority, gender equality becomes part of how the business defines success — strengthening culture, engagement, and reputation.
⚖️ Legal and Compliance: The Stewards of Integrity
WGEA’s Gender Equality Targets legislation makes accuracy and transparency non-negotiable. Legal and Compliance ensure that every submission, policy update, and public statement meets organisational and legal standards — protecting the organisation’s credibility and reputation.
Your roles:
- Review target-setting, data handling, and reporting processes for compliance with WGEA definitions and privacy laws.
- Confirm the CEO’s understanding and sign off and reporting statements are accurate and defensible.
- Support Communications and HR teams to ensure messaging reflects verified progress.
- Flag any legal or reputational risks early, avoiding issues before data is published.
Impact:
Your oversight keeps ambition aligned with accuracy. It protects the organisation from compliance breaches and public missteps — allowing leadership to communicate progress with confidence and integrity.
📊 People Analytics and Data Systems: The Evidence Builders
With progress now a required part of the WGEA target process, setting the right focus areas and metrics (those your organisation both needs and can realistically improve on) is crucial. Doing this depends on your team’s ability to provide strong, connected data.
Your roles:
- Establish your baseline data — like attrition and retention by division, role type, gender and other demographics — and track it against WGEA measures.
- Ensure systems are integrated and key data definitions are consistent across teams. (For example, by using the same classification terms and demographic categories across HR dashboards, surveys and onboarding platforms.)
- Build accessible dashboards so leaders can see and understand progress in real time.
- Flag risks or anomalies early, allowing course correction before reporting deadlines.
Impact:
Accurate, consistent data turns compliance into confidence — enabling smarter decisions, credible reporting, and measurable progress.
👥 HR and People Leaders: The Builders (and Coordinators) of Equity Systems
HR is at the centre of preparing for WGEA’s new gender equality targets.Having managed WGEA reporting in previous years, HR may already understand the data, systems, and compliance required. Now, that foundation expands into coordinating the full targets process — turning metrics into measurable change.
Your roles:
- Lead the cross-functional approach to managing WGEA targets, ensuring Legal, DEI, Data, and Comms stay aligned.
- Build early buy-in, in collaboration with DEI, by helping leaders and employees understand why these new targets matter and what part they play.
- Communicate with consistency and clarity to address misconceptions and sustain trust.
- Equip managers to lead fair, confident conversations about flexibility, performance, and progress.
- Redesign policies and processes taking a data informed and employee led approach,to align with targets and track measurable outcomes.
Impact:
HR connects compliance to culture and coordination to delivery. By leading with structure, clarity, and collaboration, HR turns new legislative requirements into lasting organisational progress.
🔄 DEI Leads: The Connectors of Understanding
WGEA’s gender equality targets are new, but the principles behind them aren’t — and DEI is the bridge between the two. While HR coordinates the process, DEI brings the purpose, helping people uncover the “why” behind the work and keeping people at the heart of every target.
Your roles:
- Partner with HR to ensure the new WGEA targets align with your broader diversity and inclusion strategy.
- Build understanding and buy-in across teams, addressing misconceptions early (for example, that targets are the same as quotas).
- Translate data into stories and insights that connect progress to people and purpose.
- Facilitate inclusive conversations that sustain engagement through the three-year cycle.
- Ensure gender equality progress strengthens — not competes with — broader organisational strategy.
Impact:
DEI Leads give the new WGEA targets meaning beyond compliance. By turning policy into shared purpose, you help the organisation move together — building belief, momentum, and genuine inclusion.
Strategic Partners (the drivers of visibility and impact)
💰 Finance and Procurement: The Investors in Impact
For Finance and Procurement, WGEA targets are both a compliance requirement and a business opportunity. Setting three mandatory gender equality targets is a critical opportunity, however non-compliance carries real financial and reputational costs.
Your roles:
- Scope realistic funding and resourcing required to strengthen or uplift data systems, programs and training required for target delivery.
- Embed gender equality standards into procurement and supplier contracts.
- Track spending and ROI for inclusion-related initiatives.
- Include gender equality progress in financial, sustainability, inclusion, and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)/Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting cycles.
Impact:
When equity is funded and measured, it becomes a performance lever — not just a cost centre.
💼 Executive Leaders: The Drivers of Delivery
Your functions control many of the systems and decisions that shape representation, pay, and progression. This means your leadership directly determines whether targets translate into measurable progress.
Your roles:
- Translate company-wide targets into measurable divisional goals.
- Assign accountability and monitor outcomes regularly, for example by including inclusion and gender equality updates in manager and team meetings.
- Build processes and allocate resources to identify and address barriers when progress slows or targets go off track.
- Break targets into practical actions such as updating recruitment processes, building capability in flexible work practices or strengthening inclusive leadership.
- Share results openly to model transparent leadership.
Impact:
Executive leaders shape the teams and decisions that deliver WGEA targets, turning them from commitments into achievable results.
👩🏽💻 Talent Acquisition: The Architects of Representation
Working as part of the broader People and Culture function, recruitment teams play a key role in shaping progress on WGEA targets. With many targets focusing on representation, pay equity and workforce flexibility, your work helps ensure the organisation attracts, hires and retains diverse talent aligned with its goals.
Your roles:
- Provide accurate recruitment data to inform target selection and baseline measurement.
- Analyse each stage of the hiring process to identify and address gender imbalances.
- Maintain inclusive shortlists and equitable hiring practices.
- Partner with other People and Culture teams to embed gender equality priorities across the employee lifecycle.
- Equip hiring managers to discuss organisational targets confidently during recruitment.
- Monitor recruitment outcomes and adjust strategies when progress slows or targets drift off track.
Impact:
Talent acquisition teams directly influence the success of WGEA targets. Collaboration across People and Culture ensures every hire contributes to measurable, credible progress.
📢 Communications and Brand: The Storytellers of Progress
How your organisation frames and communicates progress will define how you are understood and trusted. Communications and Brand teams shape the story — ensuring mandatory reporting becomes a marker of leadership, not a liability.
Your roles:
- Prepare for public visibility by planning clear, consistent messages before targets go live.
- Work with HR, DEI, and Legal to explain why targets were chosen and how progress will be measured.
- Align all internal and external messaging with verified data and compliance standards.
- Use authentic storytelling to connect numbers to people and purpose.
- Map a three-year communications plan that celebrates progress and addresses challenges with transparency.
Impact:
Your work determines how gender equality progress is perceived. When communicated with honesty and clarity, it builds trust, attracts talent, and turns compliance into credibility.
Now that you’ve got your team… it’s time to get moving
You know who your players are, and so now it’s time to put them into action.
For practical next steps, explore WGEA Targets: Pre-Submission To-Dos (Timeline and Checklist) — a clear, stage-by-stage guide outlining what to do once your team is assembled. It walks you through the key actions, milestones, and recommended time frames to help your organisation stay organised, confident, and ready for your 2026 submission.
And if you haven’t already, don’t miss our free WGEA Legislation Mini-Series — a short, expert-led course designed to help employers understand and prepare for the new gender equality target requirements.
