NSW Gender Equality Action Plans

What are Gender Equality Action Plans?

A Gender Equality Action Plan (GEAP) is a set of targets, strategies, and measures to promote and achieve gender equality in an organisation. GEAPs require agencies to consider how they can support gender equality both internally within their organisation and externally to the communities they interact with and service.

GEAPs support equitable access, treatment and opportunities, and improved outcomes for women across the NSW public sector and the broader community.

GEAPs help support increasing diversity and gender representation in the public sector workforce so that it is more reflective of the NSW community. This has the potential to deliver better government services for the people of NSW.

What goes into an action plan?

Department GEAPs outline actions and strategies that departments have committed to progress to achieve gender equality through their work and within their organisations.

Departments will report on the progress of the implementation of GEAPs annually to Women NSW. The first annual report is due in August 2026.

The key requirements for a GEAP include:

A public commitment and tailored vision for longer-term change to improve gender equality

Meaningful engagement with employees and key stakeholders to identify opportunities for action and input

Audit and analysis of relevant policies, programs, services and functions and the NSW public sector workplace to identify gender-based impacts

Targeted actions to make reasonable and material progress to advance gender equality across policies, programs, functions and services, and the NSW public sector workplace

Application of an intersectional lens and inclusion of actions to address the impacts of intersectional, or compounding gender inequality

Track actions and report on progress annually to demonstrate alignment with the Outcomes and Review Framework.

Why is the NSW Government rolling out GEAPs?

The NSW Government is committed to advancing gender equality through policies, programs, services and laws, and within its workforce. To achieve this, a whole-of-government approach is required to support equitable access, treatment and opportunities, and improved outcomes for women, men and gender diverse people who work across the NSW public sector, and in the broader community.

GEAPs are being rolled out across the NSW Government to advance gender equality through the systematic review of our policies, programs, functions, services and legislation and workforce to identify gendered impacts (negative, positive, neutral). Ambitious agendas for change will be pursued through departmental Action Plans.

Departments will report on progress towards the identified change via their annual reports.

In March 2024, NSW Treasury launched its 2024-2028 GEAP as part of the pilot phase of the program. Other NSW Government departments released their 2025-2028 GEAP in July 2025.

GEAPs are a key commitment within the NSW Women’s Strategy 2023-2026 and the inaugural Women’s Opportunity Statement.

NSW Women’s Strategy 2023-26

The NSW Women’s Strategy 2023–2026 is a whole-of-government and whole-of-community policy framework that aims to improve the economic, social and physical wellbeing of women and girls across NSW. The strategy identifies 3 priority areas for action:

economic opportunity and advancement

health and wellbeing

participation and empowerment.

NSW Secretaries Board Joint Leadership Statement

In February 2024, the NSW Secretaries Board came together and committed to advancing gender equality within the NSW Government and broader community through the implementation of Gender Equality Action Plans, ensuring that everyone, including women, men and gender diverse people, have equitable access, treatment and opportunities in the workplace and the community.