The Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 (the Act) requires that organisations report to the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) annually regarding their efforts to support the achievement of equal opportunity for women in the workplace.

The Act is designed to:
• support merit based employment
• eliminate discrimination
• encourage consultation between employees and employers regarding issues relating to equal opportunity for women in the workplace.

Organisations are required to develop and implement a workplace program each year with the aim to ensure Equal Opportunity (EO) in the workplace, to see that all employees are treated in a fair manner,
have equal access to opportunities that are available at work, and are not subjected to discrimination or harassment of any form.

If your organisation falls under the below categories, and has 100 or more employees, you may be required to submit a report to EOWA:

• private sector companies
• community organisations
• non-government schools
• unions
• group training companies
• higher education institutions.

Whilst the Federal Government has more recently announced that an organisation's reporting obligations to EOWA will move to biennial for most employers, it is important to be aware that these changes have not yet been implemented. Currently a decision is yet to be made regarding when this change may come into effect; however, as information becomes available EOWA will communicate how this change may impact the reporting responsibility in future years.

Unless an extension has been received, relevant employers must lodge a public report within the two months following the end of the period to which their report relates. Compliant reports are due to EOWA, and can be submitted electronically, by 30 May 2009 for the reporting period of 1 April 2008 through to 31 March 2009.
Those organisations who are required to submit a report to EOWA, and fail to do so will face sanctions, which include being named in a report tabled in Parliament, as well as potentially rendering the organisation ineligible to tender for government contracts and industry assistance.

For further information regarding the Act, EOWA, your reporting obligations and the guidelines to assist with the development of a workplace program for your organisation, visit the EOWA website below:
(http://www.eowa.gov.au/).

Sandra Ambrozic, Melbourne
sambrozic@moorestephens.com.au