How to navigate the GEAP process
When it comes to workplace gender equality, the Gender Equality Act 2020 (Victoria) is one of the most ambitious pieces of legislation in the world. Why? Because it doesn’t just encourage organisations to do better—it demands it. And that’s rare, and powerful.
Alongside a number of other obligations, ‘defined entities’ under the Act—from local councils, to public hospitals to universities—are legally required to develop and implement what’s called a Gender Equality Action Plan or ‘GEAP’ every four years. And guess what? A new reporting year is just around the corner:
1 December 2025 – Workplace Gender Audit due
1 May 2026 – Progress Reports and GEAPs due
So if ‘GEAP’ isn’t already part of your everyday vocabulary, it soon will be.
To help you navigate the process, the Commission for Gender Equality in the Public Sector has released updated guidance—including how-to guides, detailed explanations of each step, and new templates. Helpful? Absolutely. Overwhelming? Also yes. With 300+ pages of material, it’s easy to get bogged down before you even begin.
So whether this is your first time behind the wheel or you’re back for another lap—buckle up. Here are our top tips for driving the GEAP process without losing your marbles (or your momentum).
But first, what the bleep is a ‘GEAP’?
A GEAP is a strategic document that outlines how your organisation will advance workplace gender equality over a four-year period. Progress must be demonstrated against seven key indicators where inequality continues to exist, from pay equity to the gender composition of your workforce.
On the surface, this might sound like another bureaucratic box to tick. And yet, they can be a powerful and strategic tool for turning good intentions into meaningful change. How? Because a GEAP is backed by:
Real data and consultation → Grounded in lived experiences of staff and community
Specific strategies → Clear and targeted actions and performance measures
Top-down buy-in → Must be signed off by your CEO or equivalent
Whether it’s closing your organisation’s gender pay gap or boosting leadership pathways for women and gender-diverse people—your GEAP is the heartbeat of your gender equality efforts.
Making the most of the process (even when it’s hard)
A GEAP is a declaration of what you value, who you listen to, and how you plan to promote gender equality in your workplace and beyond. It is where you ‘name it and claim it’. Well, that’s the idea, anyway.
In reality? You’re juggling audit data, input from multiple stakeholders, and 67 tabs of ‘how-to’ guidance—all while trying to make deadlines that are fast approaching. And this time, there are new elements to factor in, including: gender pay equity principles and mandatory performance measures.
If that feels like a lot, it’s because it is. This work isn’t easy (nor should it be). It’s also completely doable, with the right support—and that’s where we come in.
Having supported dozens of organisations to develop and implement their GEAPs, we wanted to share some practical strategies and grounding principles to help you:
Cut through the complexity
Focus on what really matters
Develop a GEAP that’s not just compliant, but courageous and actionable
Let’s dive in.
1. Take a beat, don’t rinse and repeat
Before you start mapping out your GEAP, take a moment to pause and reflect on your last one. What worked? What didn’t? What made a real difference, and what fell flat?
This is your chance to course-correct, consolidate wins, and be honest about your lessons learned. It’s also about showing people that their efforts have made an impact and setting the tone for shared ownership of what comes next.
➤ ACTION: Book a reflection session (60–90-minutes) with the people closest to your last GEAP (e.g. Gender Equity Working Group members, People and Culture leads, senior champions, and diversity specialists), and start the conversation.
2. Decide how bold you want to be
Every four years, you get a chance to decide—not just what goes in your GEAP, but how bold you’re ready (and able) to be.
Maybe your organisation is just getting started, and this GEAP is about laying solid foundations and growing the appetite for change. Or maybe you’re further along the path, and ready to take on the stickier, more systemic issues that hold inequality in place.
Wherever you’re at, the GEAP process is your opportunity to decide what kind of change you are ready to drive this time around, and then develop a shared vision for it.
➤ ACTION: Develop a guiding vision for your GEAP, to ground the process and represent where you want to be in four years’ time.
3. Put your GEAP in reverse
A GEAP isn’t something you can leave until the last minute. Data wrangling takes longer than you think. Consultation timelines blow out. And trying to write a four-year action plan in a few days, while chasing executive sign-off? Not going to happen.
Our advice: start with the finish line in sight, then reverse-engineer your route to avoid a last-minute scramble.
➤ ACTION: Using the Commission’s milestone dates as a guide, build a realistic timeline that actually gives you time to think, consult, write, and re-draft. Add buffers in for the inevitable detours, and share the timeline widely so that everyone has a chance to build it into their workplans.
4. Assemble your support crew early
You might be the GEAP lead, but you can’t do it alone—and you’re not meant to. Clarifying roles and responsibilities upfront will save you a world of pain later, especially when timelines tighten and competing priorities kick in.
Think about who needs to be on the journey with you from the start. That might include:
People and Culture or HR leads (who often hold critical data and systems knowledge)
Gender Equity Working Group members or diversity champions
Data owners (especially payroll, workforce planning, WHS, and employee relations)
Executive sponsors or internal decision-makers
Communications or engagement staff to support consultation
Make sure each person knows exactly what they’re responsible for, when you’ll need their input, and how decisions will be made.
➤ ACTION: Assemble your GEAP working group and map out roles and responsibilities using a RACI matrix (or similar). And don’t forget to schedule regular check-ins!
5. Plan for sign-off from day one
Your GEAP needs to be formally attested by your CEO (or equivalent), and let’s face it—that’s rarely an overnight process. More than that, your leaders need to do more than approve your GEAP—they are accountable for helping deliver it. And that means, you’ll need to get buy-in early and often.
If you’re leading the process, start by creating a GEAP roadmap or ‘case for change’ that clearly outlines:
Your obligations under the Act
Why gender equality matters to your organisation
The tangible benefits of a strong GEAP.
Then back it up with a resourcing plan to ensure it doesn’t fall through the cracks. It’s important to keep the plan visible and moving with regular updates, visibility on audit findings, and clear links between your GEAP and organisational priorities.
➤ ACTION: Map your governance and sign-off processes, allowing enough time for executive sign-off right from the start. Set internal deadlines for reviews, brief your executive team, and allocate time in the calendar for final endorsement.
6. Cut through the data fog
Before you can put your GEAP into gear, you’ll need to complete a Workplace Gender Audit—this is a core requirement under the Act and helps you identify gender inequalities and measure change in your organisation.
As the data rolls in, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed. But before you try and translate 100-tab spreadsheets into endless graphs and breakdowns, start with the Commission’s critical performance measures. They’re designed to highlight the most important gaps to address, from sexual harassment to gender segregation, and take up of parental and carer’s leave.
Ask yourself why gendered differences exist—not just what they are. That means going beyond surface-level disparities and asking questions like:
What workplace policies, processes and behaviours might be driving these differences?
How can we better understand how employees experience these differences?
How will this data help us drive action?
You don’t need to crunch every number. If a piece of data won’t help shape your GEAP, start a conversation, or set a priority—put a pin in it for now.
➤ ACTION: Identify at least one insight per indicator to help set strategic direction in the first instance. For example: look at the gender differences in access to flexible work; or the gender composition of people in leadership roles.
7. Invite voices, not just feedback
While the Act only requires one round of consultation with employees, employee or union reps, and your governing body, the Commission recommends doing it twice—first on your audit findings, and again on your draft strategies. Why? Because meaningful consultation builds trust, deepens engagement, and brings the ‘human side’ of your data to the surface.
Stakeholder consultation can reveal hidden gaps, lived experiences, and practical challenges you might otherwise miss. It also makes your GEAP strategies more relevant, grounded, and likely to gain real support across your organisation.
The way we see it: the difference between consultation that ticks a box and consultation that has the potential to drive meaningful change comes down to two things: who you hear from and how well you listen. Be sure to reflect on:
Who are we not hearing from? E.g.: casual or shift workers, women in teams dominated by men, or staff from marginalised groups.
How can we make it safer for people to speak honestly? E.g. 1:1s, anonymous surveys, or peer-facilitated small groups.
Are our facilitators adequately trained? Do they reflect the communities we’re engaging?
How has feedback shaped our thinking—or are we just collecting it?
➤ ACTION: Create a consultation plan that centres safety and inclusion, and reach out to specialist organisations for advice and insights on engaging specific groups, if needed.
8. All aboard, because change takes all of us
Achieving gender equality is only possible if we’re all part of the journey. That’s why your GEAP should aim to shift systems and embed equity into the very architecture of your organisation—from how roles are designed and work is valued, to who gets heard, supported, and promoted.
While it’s tempting to prioritise quick wins—like running a whole-of-org training session or updating your flexible work policy—meaningful change means tackling the systems and power dynamics that create and sustain inequality in the first place.
And remember: gender inequality doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Consider how your strategies will address the compounding intersectional impacts of racism, classism, ableism, ageism, homophobia and transphobia, and other forms of discrimination.
➤ ACTION: Identify at least one structural barrier you can realistically shift over the next four years—and commit to it in your GEAP. Because when you design for those most marginalised, everybody benefits.
9. Leave a clear trail (a.k.a document everything)
GEAPs are not one-and-done; they come round as often as the Olympics, with a bi-annual progress reporting process. That means every idea, every decision, and every ‘I’d do this differently next time’ moment you record sets you up for smoother sailing in 2028, 2030, and beyond.
Documentation is also an important part of the transparency and accountability process. It helps create institutional knowledge on how decisions were made, who was involved, and enables future teams to build on your work rather than starting from scratch.
➤ ACTION: Create a shared ‘GEAP progress and process’ document and save it somewhere accessible. It doesn’t need to be fancy. It could be as simple as a set of dot points under key headings such as:
Who ‘owned’ which piece of data or decision?
What roadblocks did we hit? What took longer than we thought?
What worked well? What didn’t work so well?
Where did we need to outsource or get extra support?
What should we do differently next time?
10. Focus on fewer actions and better impact
More doesn’t always mean better. In fact, trying to include everything in your GEAP often means doing none of it well, and this work is far too important to waste precious time and resources.
Our approach to workplace gender equality is not about perfection—it’s about making meaningful, measurable progress. So instead of drafting a GEAP with 42 vague commitments that no one can remember (let alone resource), get crystal clear on:
What’s the impact we’re after?
What are we truly ready to act on?
What can we genuinely deliver in the next four years?
Who owns each action—and do they know that?
The Commission recommends at least one strategy per gender equality indicator—that’s at least seven strategies total. Enough to create change. Not so many that you risk diluting your impact.
Remember: a bold and honest GEAP that reflects the level of your resources and where your organisation is at will always be more worthwhile than a laundry list of good intentions.
➤ ACTION: Against each of the seven indicators, map at least one clear, doable and measurable strategy. If you want to add more, ask: why this, and why now?
Final thought: Don’t reinvent the wheel
You’re not the only one navigating the twists and turns of GEAP development—and you don’t have to do it alone. In fact, some of the best ideas might come from outside ‘the house’.
Tap into communities of practice, connect with other organisations, and explore what’s already out there. The Commission’s Insights Portal is a goldmine of past GEAPs and progress reports, offering real-world examples and practical strategies you can learn from (or adapt for your own context).
Want expert support to bring your GEAP to life?
GenderWorks Australia offers a range of GEAP support services to help organisations get audit ready, make sense of their data, and develop a workplan that’s both ambitious and practical. With limited spots filling up fast, reach out to secure your support today →