Women’s equality and safety: Social procurement guide

Gender equality

Gender equality means people have equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities, regardless of gender. Women’s fair participation in political, economic and public life is important for all Victorians.

The Gender Equality Act 2020 was the first of its kind in Australia.

The outcomes sought through the gender equality objective are to:

• address pay discrimination
• increase women’s workforce participation

Gender equality in businesses can increase business performance. Diversity of thought leads to more innovative solutions to complex problems.

Procurement using this objective

When this objective is included in a procurement, buyers request suppliers to provide evidence on one or more of the following:

• existing gender equality policies, procedures and practices of the supplier
• existing gender equality indicators for the supplier, such as current gender ratios in different roles and/or current gender pay gap/s
• previous notices of non-compliance under relevant gender equality legislation
• a gender equality strategy (existing, or developed as part of the response).

Buyers may also seek commitments from suppliers for improvement, which may include:

• commitments to develop and implement equality policies, procedures or practices
• targets to improve gender equality indicators (typically sought for high value procurements only).

A tool that is used to support suppliers to provide evidence of current gender policies and indicators is the Gender equality diagnostic tool.

How to identify gender equality policies in the workplace composition

A workplace composition helps to understand the profile of a business. It looks at:

• gender ratios across different roles, such as:
  • administration
  • management
  • leadership
  • executive
• gender equality policies, procedures and practices

The Invitation to Supply Model Clauses (Schedule 4) has a workforce composition table and questions, such as:

• does the supplier have a gender equality strategy? If not, why not? Are they planning to?
• are there policies or processes in place to support equal workforce participation? For example, do they have flexible work practices?
• has the supplier received any notices of non-compliance under relevant gender equality legislation?

Procurement activities by threshold

Buyers must always follow local Agency procurement processes.

Also, see Social procurement requirements and expectations for ideas about recommended actions based on value thresholds. Value thresholds are exclusive of GST.

Opportunities to maximise outcomes

The Victorian Government has a number of initiatives to support gender equality and women’s safety. Buyers can reference these initiatives in Invitation to Supply documentation, where appropriate.

Workplace Gender Equality Agency

Nearly 5,000 private sector employers submit a gender pay equality report to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. Buyers may ask suppliers to provide a copy of the report as part of a tender submission.

Digital Jobs Program

The Digital Jobs Program aims to build a talent pool of professionals to meet the need for digital expertise in Victoria. The program upskills mid-career Victorians to support them to transition into digital careers.

The Program has a particular focus on women looking to re-enter the workplace, as well as those whose job was impacted by the pandemic.

For technology-related procurement activities, consider how the program could be used to help meet this objective. In the market approach documents, ask suppliers to demonstrate how they will work with the Digital Jobs team and what outcomes they can achieve.

Tools and support

For more information about social procurement, please contact Buying for Vic.