Our advocacy

Closing the gender pay gap

We undertook a detailed analysis of Australia’s gender pay gap reporting arrangements in 2021 as part of an international review of gender pay gap reporting conducted in partnership with our sister institute at King's College London.

As a result of this, The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) requested a briefing and we worked with them to see the recommended upgrades to Australia’s system legislated and implemented for workplaces this year. 

We have also worked with WGEA to update their Employer of Choice citation for model employers and to help them implement new employer-level targets to accelerate progress on closing the pay gap. 

In very good news, Australia’s pay gap today is the lowest it has ever been at 11.5%.

Implementing a parliamentary code of conduct

When Brittany Higgins went public with her allegations and Kate Jenkins began her investigation of the parliamentary workplace, GIWL brought together academics from around the world with staffers and politicians to develop a model code of conduct. 

This code of conduct was recommended in the final report of the Jenkins review and GIWL advocated during the election campaign and continued to work with parliamentarians through inquiries and implementation committees to see it progress. The codes of conduct agreed by each house of parliament in 2023 include all the elements recommended by GIWL in 2021. 

While recent revelations show that workplace issues persist on all sides of politics, there are new avenues for reporting, support and accountability and GIWL’s role in this has been recognised by Kate Jenkins and others as instrumental.

Addressing gendered harassment

We are undertaking what we believe to be world-first, active research to pilot interventions to prevent online harassment in workplaces in partnership with the e-safety commission. Our model draws together what we know, works with stakeholders to co-design interventions, and then we will pilot and evaluate these. As a result, we will be able to give employers real, tangible actions to take to ensure their workers are safe. 

We are also working with the Health and Community Services Union in Victoria to develop training modules to reduce sexual harassment in the health care sector.

Through our industry-leading research around e-safety and online harassment, workplace safety for health care and parliamentary workers and more, we aim to stem this rising tide of gendered abuse, and create a safer world for women and gender diverse people, both online and off.

Forging pathways to greater diversity in politics

The 2022 federal election demonstrated a shifting landscape of women’s candidacy in politics, with record numbers of women both running for and succeeding in election to political office. However, a significant gap still exists in terms of diverse political representation. 

Across local, state, and federal politics, Australia continues to struggle to elect women and non-binary candidates of different, cultures and ethnicities, sexuality identities and experiences of disability.

We have partnered with Women for Election to identify the barriers for diverse women to run for office, and what we can do to help address these and have our parliaments better reflect the communities they serve.

Advancing intergenerational justice

For too long, Australian politics has been dominated by short-term decision-making, leaving future generations to deal with the consequences. But a new bill introduced to Parliament aims to change that by embedding intergenerational justice into policymaking.

We are encouraged to see that several of our key recommendations from the "A Fair Go for All" report, developed in partnership with EveryGen and Foundations for Tomorrow, have helped shape the new Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill 2025, tabled in February 2025 by Independent MP Sophie Scamps and seconded by Liberal backbencher Bridget Archer. You can find out more about how our research has shaped this new bill here.

Shaping international gender equality strategy

In September 2023, the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership (GIWL) submitted a review of Australia’s International Gender Equality Strategy (AIGES), outlining key priorities for improving gender equality on a global scale. Covering critical areas such as climate action, gender-based violence, women’s leadership, and economic empowerment, our review provided a clear roadmap for meaningful change. 

Fast forward to 2025, and we can see that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has taken many of our recommendations onboard, shaping its new International Gender Equality Strategy to reflect a deep commitment to systemic change by tackling the root causes of inequality.

Bringing together a global community of gender equality advocates

Our program of events, conferences and workshops bring together communities, academics, experts and policymakers from Australia and beyond to discuss the most urgent gender-related issues of our time and create a global network of gender equality advocates.

Explore our events program to see our upcoming workshops, conferences and panel discussions, and catch up on our previous webinars. 

Explore our parliamentary submissions