The Assess step is designed to begin with a guided online self-assessment with structured questions, and selectable options to help organisations identify and prioritise their GEDI barriers to address. The intention is that organisations are not starting from scratch: some data will autofill for users to validate and fill in any gaps, reducing the time and effort required. 

We are proposing that the self-assessment produces a results dashboard showing an organisation’s GEDI maturity by theme, top strengths, and priority areas for improvement. Over multiple program cycles, the dashboard would show trends and changes to your organisation’s maturity over time (See the re-Assess section below). The example below illustrates what this could look like. 

Proposed features include: 

• The ability to upload your existing GEDI work (e.g. action plans and strategies), so it directly informs your assessment, results, and next steps 
• Autofill, with fields pre-filled from your uploaded documents and/or earlier answers, ready for you to confirm or edit 
• A dashboard that summarises your data to help you interpret the results 
• Benchmarking your organisation’s results against national sector averages.

Fig. 2. Illustrative example of the self-assessment results dashboard.

In the Define step, the platform is designed to guide organisations through identifying which barriers to prioritise based on the dashboard results. For example, the dashboard will identify your organisation’s top areas for improvement. These results help you define which barriers you want to focus on and set goals for your organisation to drive genuine change. 

Proposed features include: 

• Autofill, with fields pre-filled from your earlier answers 
• Prewritten, selectable options (such as barriers and goals) tailored to what you have already chosen, with an option to write your own.

In Design you build an action plan. This is where we are proposing the program goes beyond diagnosis. We are envisaging a bank of evidence-based actions drawn from research and ten years of what SAGE members have implemented and found to work in Australian research settings, with case studies showing how specific actions have been put into practice. It prioritises actions that shift systems, processes, and practices. The intention is that you are not reinventing the wheel. You are choosing from a bank of initiatives that have worked and adapting it to your context. This helps MRIs make easier and faster decisions while gaining high-quality outcomes. 

Proposed features include: 

• A bank of evidence-based actions to select from, matched to the barriers and goals you have identified, drawn from what has worked in practice 
• Downloadable SAGE member impact summaries showing how actions have been implemented, and their outcomes and impacts, to inform your choices.

In Prepare the platform is designed to guide your organisation through readying for implementation. This includes identifying who needs to be involved, their roles and accountabilities, and working through what it will take to bring your plan to life: engaging the right people across the organisation, fitting new actions into existing processes, balancing competing priorities, and planning ahead for challenges along the way. 

Proposed features include: 

• Templates and tools to help you plan the practical side of implementation 
• Guidance to help you prepare for challenges, balance competing priorities, and bring the right people on board. 

In Execute, you put your action plan into practice. Evaluation is built into this step, not added on afterwards, so you can monitor if your actions are working and measure any outcomes and impact as you go. We are proposing practical, ready-to-use tools to help you decide what to measure, the right data to collect, and how to make sense of it. Importantly, this goes beyond numbers and metrics: the aim is to help you also capture the human stories, and the cultural shifts that show whether your GEDI work is making a real difference. 

Note. Individual-level data stays with your organisation. What flows to SAGE is anonymous, summarised data only. Over time, national participation in the program will build a consistent, comparable GEDI evidence base across the MRI sector.  

Proposed features include: 

• Prewritten, selectable suggestions for what to measure, tailored to the goals you set in Define, with options to write your own  
• Ready-to-use data collection tools matched to what you are measuring (e.g. focus groups protocols, surveys) 
• Built-in tools to analyse your data and summarise your results.

In Share, you report your findings transparently to your organisation, SAGE, and the sector. This step is about honesty and self-reflection as much as it is about reporting: sharing what worked and what didn’t, not just the highlights.  

Proposed features include: 

• An editable, exportable report you can download and share  
• Prompts to help you report honestly and transparently  
• Guidance on communicating your results to different audiences, such as academic and professional staff, partners, government, boards, funders, or students.

Each cycle is designed to build on the last. From cycle two onwards, you complete the same structured self-assessment again, so your results can be compared directly against your previous assessment. This shows you how your organisation has changed over time, and gives you the opportunity to be recognised with an updated maturity award from SAGE where standards have been met or exceeded.

This multi-year project is funded by the Australian Government’s Department of Industry, Science and Resources with the aim to foster workplace cultures that attract, retain and progress underrepresented cohorts in the MRI sector.

Between July and October 2026, we will seek feedback on the draft design through a comprehensive, sector-wide consultation process. Stakeholders from the MRI sector will be invited to take part and share their views.

Participating in this process will be voluntary, flexible, and designed to respect your organisation’s time and existing commitments, while ensuring meaningful input.

We estimate the total time commitment will be approximately 1-2 hours between July and October 2026, with timing options tailored to your availability.

Since 2016, SAGE has been working with universities and research organisations to deliver practical organisation-wide change to improve gender equality, diversity and inclusion through the Athena Swan Program.

The members have received more than 100 awards for delivering targeted evidence-based action that has delivered change. These have included initiatives targeting the gender pay gap, LGBTQIA+ inclusion, disability inclusion, parents and carers flexibility, gender-based violence and many more. Our progress and impact case studies capture the real value of this work.

Impact can also be seen clearly at the macro level through reporting mechanisms such as the yearly Workplace Gender Equity Agency employer data. In 2025, SAGE member institutions reported a 37% lower median gender pay gap on average compared to non-members (6.5% compared to 10.3%).

Member institutions are closing gaps faster, balancing gender representation in senior roles, embedding stronger transparency and accountability, creating safer workplaces and implementing robust policy foundations.

SAGE’s model is now considered sector best-practice, reflective of international best practice and highly prestigious in higher education and research.

Based on the impact success of SAGE’s Athena Swan Program, SAGE is co-designing a bespoke program for MRIs. MRIs now have a unique opportunity to shape their own tailored approach that draws on the proven Athena Swan model, but is designed specifically for the sector’s individual strengths, realities, and ambitions.