Gendered Gaps and Loopholes in Victorian Legislation and Policy

This project is thanks to the generosity of the Victorian Women’s Trust and Ross Trust and aims to conduct an environmental scan of gendered loopholes and gaps in Victorian legislation to advocate for system improvement and policy change. This project spans three stages of work, with the majority being carried out in 2026.

An initial engagement stage worked with the gender equality sector to identify loopholes in legislation and policies that are already known. This created an initial database that has expanded to include any other gendered gaps that need to be closed.

In June 2025, Neville Mackieson Consulting laid valuable groundwork for this project, producing a discussion paper informed by research and workshops that they conducted to surface important insights about gendered experiences with Victorian legislation. This engagement revealed meaningful opportunities for improvement ranging from workplace safety to increasing transparency in gender equity reporting. The findings also highlighted the need for strong advocacy and legislative change that better supports gender equity in Victoria.

 

Download the discussion paper here

The second stage of this work is underway and focused on identifying what actions need to be taken to address the gaps and sharing this information with key decision makers. This will lead to specific actions to amend identified gaps and introduce system improvements and policy changes that will in turn form GEN VIC’s advocacy platform for ongoing system reforms. To do this, GEN VIC are holding four workshops across four policy themes in 2026 with members and trusted experts.

WORKSHOP	DETAILS	REGISTRATION
1. Health, Safety & Wellbeing	12PM-1:30PM Wednesday 4 March | Online	Closed
2. Planning & Infrastructure	12PM-1:30PM Wednesday 13 May | Queen Victoria Women's Centre & Online	Closed
3. Education	12PM-1:30PM Wednesday 15 July | Online	Closed
4. Local Council	September 2026	Register now!

GEN VIC are seeking funding opportunities to deliver the third stage of work. This stage will focus on advocating for the proposed amendments in the final report (due to be handed down in Dec 2026) to be implemented. Additional funding will also allow for more policy portfolio areas to be addressed like housing and women in sport.

 

Already know a law or policy you think should change? Complete our short, anonymous survey.

This survey is one of the ways GEN VIC is seeking to engage people in this project, and we deeply value your contributions. Responses to this survey will be kept in the strictest confidence.

Complete the survey

If you have any questions or thoughts about the survey or the Unequal Laws project, please contact GEN VIC Policy Advisor Helena Jordan at hjordan@genvic.org.au.

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