HR BREAKFAST CLUB MONTHLY FORUM

JOIN US FOR OUR SEPTEMBER HR BREAKFAST CLUB

What is a DEI Workplace? Recent Reforms to Workplace Gender Equality Legislation: Mandatory Obligations and What Employers Need to Know

Date | 8:00am Friday 18 September 2026

Venue | In person – BAL Lawyers, Canberra House, Level 9/40 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra 

Presenter | Chelsea Francis-Hartman, Associate at BAL Lawyers

Cost | Complimentary

Join us at BAL Lawyers’ HR Breakfast Club on the morning of Friday 18 September 2026, where Associate Lawyer Chelsea Francis-Hartman will unpack what a “DEI workplace” looks like under Australian law, with a particular focus on recent reforms to the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 (Cth), referred to in this session as the WGE Act.

Diversity, equity and inclusion sit at the centre of many organisations’ people strategies, but gender equality is the one pillar of DEI that Australian law now regulates directly and in detail. Amendments that commenced in April 2025 introduced a new obligation for large employers to select and work toward measurable ‘Gender Equality Targets’, and the first round of targets is being selected and reported through 2026. This sits alongside the positive duty under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth), which the Australian Human Rights Commission has been able to enforce since December 2023, and alongside the public release of employer specific gender pay gap data, which has sharpened attention on individual organisations rather than national averages alone. Together, these developments mean HR professionals are navigating a noticeably busier and more consequential compliance landscape than even two or three years ago.

This session will start with the contemporary context, and the key figures HR professionals should know, including current gender pay gap data and the scale of employers now caught by the new target setting regime. Chelsea will then work through the practical obligations that apply to employers and HR teams: who counts as a “relevant employer” or a “designated relevant employer”, the annual reporting obligations that flow from that status, and the new requirement for designated relevant employers to select Gender Equality Targets from a prescribed menu and report on progress over a three-year period.

The session will also address the legal risks of getting this wrong, including public naming by the regulator, exclusion from Commonwealth contracts and grants, potential criminal liability for false or misleading reporting, and the reputational and ESG exposure that can follow. Finally, Chelsea will turn to the opportunities these reforms create for organisations willing to treat gender equality reporting as a genuine strategic exercise rather than a compliance formality, including the chance to address structural issues such as career interruptions linked to caring responsibilities and the undervaluation of feminised roles.

Whether your organisation is already a designated relevant employer navigating its first round of targets, approaching the relevant employer threshold for the first time, or simply wants to stay ahead of the reform agenda, this session offers a practical guide to what the law now requires and how to turn compliance into meaningful organisational change.

We look forward to seeing you on Friday morning, 18 September 2026.

Alternatively, you can email events@ballawyers.com.au to register attendance or to sign up for our future invitations.

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