It was a statutory authority located within the then existing Australian Commonwealth Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA).
EOWA's role was to administer the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 (Commonwealth)[1], passed by the Parliament of Australia in November 2012, and through education, assist organisations to achieve equal opportunity for women.
Outlined in Part III Section 10 of the Act, the Agency was primarily a regulatory body, annually monitoring the reporting of eligible Australian organisations on equal opportunity for women in their workplaces.
The Agency also had responsibility to undertake research, educational and other programs, and more generally promote the understanding of equal opportunity for women in the workplace.
The Employer of Choice for Women (EOCFW) citation is announced annually since the 2001 inaugural list of 55 organisations.