The Allan Labor Government has marked International Women’s Day with the release of a new toolkit to help small businesses close the gender pay gap.

The Pay Equality Toolkit, developed by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission with funding from the Labor Government, will support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to achieve pay equality in their workplace.

The toolkit gives business owners and leaders the resources they need to take action on the gender pay gap, including a Pay Equality Compass to help assess the strengths and opportunities for businesses, guides and templates for creating an equal pay policy.

The toolkit also provides a model for handling pay complaints and conducting a gender pay audit, and other practical tools for SMEs to meet their legal obligations, improve staff satisfaction and become an employer of choice.

The Equal pay matters: Achieving gender pay equality in small-to-medium enterprises report noted that smaller organisations have a limited understanding about the concept of equal pay and how it applies to them – that’s why developing this toolkit was so important.

As part of the Victorian Budget 2023/24, the Labor Government invested $1 million to promote gender pay equity workplace initiatives and the functions of the Equal Workplaces Advisory Council.

To access the toolkit, go to humanrights.vic.gov.au.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Industrial Relations Tim Pallas

“Closing the gender pay gap is a win for everyone. Equitable workplaces are more productive, have less staff turnover, higher morale and are more profitable.”

“This toolkit will support small and medium-sized businesses to close the gender pay gap.”

Quotes attributable to Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner Ro Allan

“This toolkit is the first of its kind in Australia – a comprehensive suite of practical tools tailored to the needs of small and medium enterprises, to help them address their gender pay gap and create workplaces where every employee is paid fairly.”

“The business owners we spoke to told us that small businesses need practical advice about achieving pay equality that is tailored to their specific needs. We have worked with experts in gender equality as well as numerous small to medium enterprises throughout Victoria to produce this practical toolkit.”