Submitting EEO Reports and Management Plans

Prior to December 2007, agencies reported on an annual basis to the Director of Equal Opportunity in Public Employment (DEOPE) and through their annual reports.

Premier’s Department Circular C2007-26 summarises the recommendations of the Internal Government Red Tape Review Report which were endorsed by the Budget Standing Committee of Cabinet on 18 December 2006. The report recommended the removal of duplicate EEO reporting. The Internal Government Red Tape Review also recommended small agencies (those with fewer than 200 staff) need only report on a triennial basis in respect of EEO, ethnic affairs priorities statements (EAPS) and waste.

EEO Annual Report

The Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 was amended with effect from 7 December 2007 to remove the requirement for agencies to annually submit implementation reports to the Director of Equal Opportunity in Public Employment. Agencies will now be required to include a report of their equal employment opportunity (EEO) achievements during the reporting year and their planned outcomes proposed for the following year in their annual report only. Treasury Circular 07/20 outlines the new EEO Annual reporting requirements. To assist agencies, an annual template has been developed to guide reporting on EEO outcomes in annual reports.

EEO Management Plans

The EEO Management plan is prepared in accordance with Part 9A of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977, under section 122J. The EEO Management Plan facilitates the identification and removal of systemic barriers to the participation and promotion in employment of EEO groups, including:

• Women
• Aboriginal People and Torres Strait Islanders
• People from racial, ethnic and ethno-religious minority groups
• People whose language first spoken as a child was not English
• People with a disability
• People with a disability requiring adjustment at work.

EEO Management Plans differ from EEO annual reporting requirements in that they are brief, high level, strategic documents which normally span a period of between 3 to 5 years. The plans contain information not contained in EEO annual reports including how EEO strategies will be communicated and implemented within an agency.

Agencies are still required to prepare and submit EEO management plans to the Director of Equal Opportunity in Public Employment, as they are updated.

The Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 requires agencies (private and public) to seek an exemption from the Anti-Discrimination Board to limit access to vacancies to specific groups of employees. One of the benefits of including affirmative action strategies in agency EEO Management plans, is that it streamlines recruitment processes by removing the need to apply for a section 126 or 126A exemption of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 when recruiting for each identified position.

For example, an EEO management plan can detail the need to identify positions for Aboriginal people in support of the Two Ways Together policy and targets.

Agencies will still have access to Clause 10 provisions of the Public Sector Regulation, however, EEO management plans are the most integrated and efficient way of addressing targeted programs because you don’t have to seek an exemption from the Anti-Discrimination Board or approval of the Public Sector Workforce Office.

The Public Sector Workforce Office has developed a model EEO Management Plan which agencies are welcome to adopt and modify if necessary to suit their needs. The plan details the minimum strategies required to fulfil section 122J of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977. This template is not intended to replace the current diversity frameworks or strategies that agencies have in place. It may be useful as a starting point for new or smaller agencies.

Agencies are encouraged to include their EEO planning and reporting requirements as part of their broader workforce planning or human resources strategic planning framework.