Gender Equality Action Plans (GEAPs)

Practical support every step of the way

A Gender Equality Action Plan or ‘GEAP’ is the heartbeat of your organisation’s efforts to accelerate gender equality. While it can be tempting to try and include everything, a practical and realistic GEAP will always be more worthwhile than a laundry list of good intentions. Want support to drive the process?

Understanding your obligations

For defined entities under Victoria’s Gender Equality Act 2020, there are three major reporting deliverables and they’re coming up fast:

  • Workplace Gender Audit (Due: 1 December 2025) → Collect and submit workforce data and employee experience data against the seven workplace gender equality indicators.

  • Progress Reporting (Due: 1 May 2026) → Report on what’s been achieved—against indicators, your previous GEAP, and your Gender Impact Assessments (GIAs).

  • New Gender Equality Action Plan (Due: 1 May 2026) → A four-year plan to advance gender equality, grounded in data, consultation, and your learnings so far.

Whether this is your first time or you’re back for another round, we’re here to help you navigate the GEAP process with confidence and clarity.

Doing a GEAP with GenderWorks

We offer a range of flexible support packages from help with auditing, action planning or progress reporting, to comprehensive end-to-end GEAP support:

  • Prepare and plan (developing a workplan)

  • Workplace Gender Audit

  • Progress Reporting

  • Consultation Design & Support

  • Recommended Strategies 

  • End-to-end GEAP support

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group of colleagues sitting together

Getting everyone on the same page

Prepare and plan

We can help you build a realistic workplan to develop your GEAP that includes:

  • A clear schedule of work to keep you on track, aligned to internal & external deadlines

  • Support to map internal roles and approval processes

  • Guidance on how to avoid common roadblocks

  • Briefing sessions for leaders to better understand the GEAP process and build buy-in

  • 1:1 coaching and technical advice for GE leads or P&C

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Workplace Gender Audit (due December 1, 2025)

Turning your data into actionable insights

The first step in developing a GEAP is completing a Workplace Gender Audit to identify gender inequalities and measure change in your organisation. 

GenderWorks can:

  • Help you understand your audit requirements and populate the reporting template

  • Guidance on how performance measures are calculated and what they are telling you 

  • Analyse data (workforce and employee experience data) against workplace gender equality indicators and critical performance measures 

  • Offer clear insights to set up your consultation phase for success

  • Summarise key findings for your Executive, GE Working Group or governing body

  • Document the process to build capability for future audits

See what’s working and what needs to change

Progress reporting (due May 1, 2026)

Progress reporting involves assessing and documenting the ‘wins’ you’ve had in the previous two years—across the seven indicators, your Gender Impact Assessments (GIAs), and your GEAP strategies.

GenderWorks can:

  • Unpack your progress reporting requirements

  • Facilitate team-based reflection sessions

  • Review past actions and progress, with an intersectional gender lens

  • Support you to complete progress reporting template (including progress against indicators, GIA and GEAP strategies)

Other GIA services

  • Engage the right people in the process 

    To put together a GEAP, you need to conduct at least one round of consultation with employees, employee representatives and governing bodies. How you do that is largely up to you.

    The way we see it, meaningful consultation is not a tick-box. It’s a chance to listen deeply and ground your GEAP in people’s lived experience. It’s also a key opportunity to build internal buy-in and create momentum for change. 

    GenderWorks can support you to:

    • Design a consultation plan (including targeting diverse employee cohorts) that centres safety and inclusion

    • Deliver consultations including focus group discussions, 1:1 interviews, online surveys, and contact with unions and your governing body

    • Document and theme consultation findings against indicators and performance measures

  • Creating a roadmap for change

    Your GEAP needs to include at least one strategy per workplace gender equality indicator (7 total), including how you will measure progress.

    GenderWorks can help you:

    • Develop strategies and measures that respond to your audit and consultation findings

    • Apply an intersectional lens to your strategy development

    • Create a resourcing plan to implement your GEAP

  • We know rural and regional organisations are often juggling compliance demands with small teams and limited budgets. That’s why we offer flexible support tailored to local realities and community needs. 

    Our regional packages are designed to:

    • Maximise impact with minimal internal resourcing

    • Help you build internal capability for future reporting cycles

    • Deliver actionable insights from your data to inform your GEAP strategies

    • Reduce the admin load with simple and streamlined processes 

Looking for more comprehensive support?

Build your own GEAP Accelerator Package

End-to-end support to get it done right

If you’re short on time, thin on internal resources, or want the reassurance that all your bases are covered—our GEAP Accelerator Package is for you.

With everything you need to complete your audit, progress reporting and GEAP, this package is designed to build internal capability and confidence in a scalable way.

Whether you need the full suite, or just a few critical pieces—we can help you put together a tailored GEAP support package that fits your team, budget, and goals.

Choose from:

✔️ A mapped workplan with roles, timeframes, and internal approvals

✔️ Briefings for Executives, GE Working Groups, and P&C leads

✔️ Full audit prep, analysis, and strategic data reporting

✔️ Consultation design and facilitation

✔️ Draft strategies for all seven workplace gender equality indicators

✔️ Technical support to respond to required sections of the GEAP template

✔️ A clear and actionable draft GEAP, including resourcing plan

✔️ Technical support and strategic check-ins to keep things on track

Who we’ve worked with

  • aerial view austin hospital

    Austin Health

  • external office benalla city council

    Benalla City Council

  • brimbank community civic centre

    Brimbank City Council

  • frankston pier and bay

    Frankston City Council

  • filling up reusable drink bottle

    Goulburn Valley Water

  • koonung park

    Manningham City Council

  • view from bottom of city building

    State Revenue Office

  • swinburne lecture sitting on red seats

    Swinburne University

  • western health love and support banner

    Western Health

Why GenderWorks

Having supported dozens of organisations to develop and implement their action plans, our team are experts in auditing, consultation and driving the GEAP process.

We’re strategic. We’re practical. We’re evidence-based and intersectional in our approach. And we know the legislation back to front.

More than that, we understand that culture change is complex, and that you have to take people on the journey. We’re here to guide you through the GEAP process in a way that makes sense for your organisation—where you’re at now, and where you want to be.

Ready to get started?

If you’re keen to take the next step in advancing gender equality within your organisation, simply fill out the form below and we’ll be in touch to organise an initial consultation and tailored quote.