Small businesses, join our Pay Equality Toolkit reference group
Are you a small business in Victoria interested in staff retention, supporting workplace morale and increasing productivity and profits? We’re seeking expressions of interest for a reference group to inform the development of a Pay Equality Toolkit. You can help us create practical resources to ensure pay equality for every worker – regardless of their sex, gender, race, age, abilities or care-giving status.
15 August 2023
‘Every single industry in Australia has a gender pay gap that favours men. And the gender pay gap has increased in eight industries this year.’ (Gender equality scorecard, WEGA)
Supporting pay equality in small and medium enterprises
In 2020, the Commission conducted research into equal pay within small- to-medium-size enterprises (SMEs). Our report revealed that small businesses have a big opportunity to help close the gender pay gap.
In the second phase of the project, to implement key recommendations of our report we developed education resources to support the understanding of equality at work and the economic and workplace diversity benefits to embedding equal pay.
We are now creating a Pay Equality Toolkit specifically for Victorian small businesses.
Join the reference group
We are seeking expressions of interest for membership to our project reference group. We are committed to making the toolkit relevant and useful for Victorian small businesses in a wide variety of industries, locations and contexts.
The purpose of the reference group is to:
- Advise – by sharing workplace experience and local expert knowledge to ensure each tool is easy to use and accessible
- Guide – by considering the practical use of the tools throughout their industry
- Assess – by testing the tools and providing feedback.
We appreciate the time constraints of small business owners and will pay participants $1016.90 for their expertise and engagement.
Eligibility requirements
Reference group participants will be:
- interested in pay equality
- the owner (or general manager or head of HR) in a small business with 2–50 employees located in Victoria
- available to participate in 10 hours of consultation over a six-month period.
Submit an expression of interest
* Deadline extended *
If you are interested in joining our reference group, please submit an expression of interest by close of business on 8 September 2023.
Find out more
For further information, please email:
Anita L’Enfant – Principal Adviser, Pay Equality
Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission