The Western Australian Government is demonstrating its commitment to raising awareness of the importance and benefits of gender equality. This includes leveraging public sector procurement practices, which aligns with the principles of the Western Australian Social Procurement Framework.
The first phase was the Gender Equality in Procurement: WA Public Sector Pilot (the Pilot), which was led by the Department of Communities with support from the Department of Finance, commencing on 1 July 2022 until 30 June 2024.
The Pilot initiative supports the goals of Stronger Together: WA’s Plan for Gender Equality, a whole-of-community framework to drive improved outcomes for women across four priority areas: health and wellbeing, safety and justice, economic independence and leadership.
The primary aim of the Pilot was to raise awareness and understanding of workplace gender equality principles and practices among suppliers and potential suppliers of goods and services to the State Government.
During the Pilot, organisations tendering for certain contracts with participating public sector agencies were required to answer questions about their workplace gender equality policies and initiatives.
The 19 State Government agencies that participated in the Pilot included:
- Department of Communities
- Department of Finance
- Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety
- Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development
- Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage
- Department of Justice
- Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries
- Department of Water and Environmental Regulation
- VenuesWest
- Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions
- Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation
- WA Police
- Department of the Premier and Cabinet
- Public Transport Authority
- Main Roads
- Public Sector Commission
- Department of Health
- Department of Education
- Department of Fire and Emergency Services
During the two years of the Pilot, participating public sector agencies awarded 577 contracts worth more than $2 billion through procurement processes which included the gender equality clause.
An interim evaluation of the Pilot was undertaken in mid-2023 and a snapshot of the evaluation report is available at: Gender Equality in Procurement Evaluation Report 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023 (PDF, 308.51KB).
Data gathered during the Pilot indicated that participation in the Pilot improved awareness and understanding of practices that contribute to workplace gender equality.
As a result of the success of the pilot, a gender equality disclosure clause has been permanently implemented in certain procurement documents with all State agencies from 1 July 2024.
The clause asks agencies if they employ 100 or more people and, if so, to disclose whether they comply with the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) gender equality reporting requirements, as required under the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 (Cth).
Further information on the permanent initiative can be found at the Department of Finance website: Gender Equality in Procurement.
Government Trading Enterprises (GTE) Pilot
Communities is leading a separate pilot project with GTEs, that are voluntarily trialling the gender equality disclosure clause through their individual procurement platforms.
The GTE pilot is an opportunity for gender equality awareness-raising and data gathering among a broader scope of organisations that supply goods or services.
Evaluation
Communities undertook a preliminary evaluation of the Gender Equality in Procurement – WA Sector Pilot in 2023.
The evaluation aimed to obtain early insights on how public sector procurement can be an effective mechanism to raise awareness of the benefits of workplace gender equality.
Download the Evaluation Report 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023 – Snapshot below.
