The Women’s equality and safety objective focuses on gender equality within Victorian Government suppliers, particularly equal employment at all levels within businesses including leadership and management positions.
Building Equality Policy
On 1 January 2022, the Government’s Building Equality Policy (BEP) came into effect. It applies to construction projects over $20 million. The BEP is a world-leading policy that sets onsite targets for employing women through government procurement on construction projects and mandates actions that are needed to drive systemic cultural change. Industrial Relations Victoria (IRV) within the Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF) is responsible for oversight of the BEP, while DGS supports the implementation of the BEP through the SPF.
In 2022–23 the BEP was applied to 28 projects with an approximate value of $3.07 billion14. The Social Procurement and Assurance team has supported BEP implementation by undertaking activities including assessing appropriate weighting during evaluation and application of BEP contract clauses.
The Victorian Government recognises the importance of monitoring and evaluating new policies. To ensure that any changes to BEP targets and Gender Equality Action Plan requirements are realistic, achievable and reflect the needs of women, an independent evaluation has been undertaken to:
- evaluate how well industry is meeting the BEP, and to what extent the 3 actions progressed the objectives of the BEP
- identify barriers to implementation of the BEP, potential changes and opportunities to support contractors to build capability; and
- identify and assess the impacts of the BEP on project delivery.
14: Contracts that applied BEP and had a contract start date that commenced during FY2022–23 are included in reporting.
To read more about the impact of this objective, see Social procurement: Case studies, Women’s equality and safety.
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