IWD 2026 Balancing the Scales: Addressing Gender Discrimination in the Workplace

Velocity Legal

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Key Insights

Gender discrimination is not always obvious or deliberate. Workplace discrimination often arises through assumptions about availability, commitment, leadership style or caring responsibilities. A hiring, promotion or flexible work decision may create risk even where no one intended to treat a person unfairly. Employers should look closely at how decisions are actually made, not just what their policies say.
Indirect discrimination can sit inside ordinary workplace rules. A policy may apply to everyone but still disadvantage a particular group in practice. Requirements about office attendance, promotion pathways, meeting times or availability outside standard hours can create issues if they disproportionately affect women or employees with caring responsibilities and cannot be reasonably justified.
Employers need to prevent risk, not just respond to complaints. The positive duty requires employers to take proactive steps to prevent sex discrimination, harassment and related unlawful conduct. Clear policies, manager training, structured recruitment and promotion processes, transparent pay decisions and proper handling of flexible work requests all help reduce legal risk and support a fairer workplace culture.

Contents

How does gender discrimination still arise in Australian workplaces?

International Women’s Day 2026 carries the theme Balance the Scales, recognising that structural barriers to equality still exist and can be dismantled. In workplaces across Australia, gender discrimination often arises not through deliberate misconduct, but through assumptions, informal decision-making and workplace practices that unintentionally disadvantage women.

In this episode of Explain That by Velocity Legal, Andrew Henshaw is joined by Employment Director Jess Hill to discuss gender discrimination in the workplace, how bias can appear in everyday employment decisions, and what employers can do to create fairer and more transparent workplaces.

The discussion covers:

what gender discrimination means under Australian law;
the difference between direct and indirect discrimination;
how unconscious bias can influence workplace decisions;
common risk areas, including recruitment, promotions, flexible work and pay decisions;
why informal decision-making can create legal and cultural risk;
the employer’s positive duty to prevent discrimination and harassment;
practical steps employers can take to improve workplace systems; and
how clearer policies, training and structured decision-making can help reduce risk.

A practical discussion for employers, directors, managers and HR professionals who want to build fairer workplaces while meeting their legal obligations.

For guidance on workplace policies, leadership training, discrimination risk management or workplace conduct issues, contact Velocity Legal’s Employment team.

This podcast in no way constitutes legal advice. It is general in nature and is the opinion of the author only. You should seek legal advice tailored to your individual circumstances before acting on anything related to this podcast.

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