Steve Knott
AMMA CHIEF
EXECUTIVE
Chief Executive’s Message
FROM THE TRANSFORMATION
undertaken by Gold Fields
Ltd of its new Australian gold mines, to the ‘back to basics’
HR practices put in place by Peabody Energy and Newmont,
this edition of
Resource People
offers unique insight into the
workforce strategies of Australia’s resource employers as a
commercially challenging 2014 draws to a close.
While a strong focus is on finding new efficiencies and
improving productivity, it is encouraging to read the raft of
investments still being made in developing the skilled employees
and resource industry leaders of tomorrow. Management training,
high achieving apprentices and successful schoolkid programs are
all on display within these pages.
Diversity and Leadership showcase ongoing initiatives
and programs to engage with underrepresented talent
demographics in our sector, in particular encouraging
more women and Indigenous Australians to take up career
opportunities in our industry.
With an increased focus on mental health among Australia’s
FIFO workforces, this edition also includes a timely feature
exploring the benefits and challenges of undertaking this
working lifestyle, including from the perspectives of the family
members back at home and an onsite safety and wellbeing
manager who undertakes a FIFO roster.
Recently, AMMA submitted to the West Australian
parliamentary inquiry into FIFO mental health that employers
in our industry have put significant energy and focus into
comprehensive FIFO wellbeing initiatives over the past decade
and more. However, employers in our sector are also very aware
that the range of unique factors associated with FIFO work must
be acknowledged and managed as part of ‘whole-of-business’
mental health and workplace safety policies and initiatives.
All this ensures sustainable employment opportunities are
created by the resource industry and accessible to all throughout
the broader community. As we look towards 2015, Australia’s
mining, oil and gas, and allied sector employers continue to
build a positive legacy that will improve our national wellbeing
for many more years to come.
With each edition of
Resource People
we endeavour to
showcase just a small portion of these efforts.
ENGAGING WITH OUR NATIONAL LEADERS
Resource People
also explores how as an industry we can
deliver a strong return on the billions of dollars of new project
investment into our country in recent years, and reap the
national benefits of our nation’s new production capacity.
With the G20 meeting of global leaders taking place in
Brisbane in mid-November, we have seen a renewed focus on
Australia’s competitiveness in the global marketplace.
At the ‘B20’ precursor event for business leaders, the head of
the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde suggested
infrastructure investment and labour market reform will be critical
to meeting the G20’s global growth target of 1.8 per cent.
With the G20 meeting of global
leaders taking place in Brisbane in mid-
November, we have seen a renewed
focus on Australia’s competitiveness in
the global marketplace.
On the latter issue, there is no doubt Australia’s workplace
relations laws can and should provide a much more supportive
framework for economic and employment growth. More broadly,
the role of government in creating a regulatory environment that
supports and encourages industry innovation and investment
remains absolutely critical.
To this end, AMMA was very pleased to have recently hosted
an exclusive Dinner with the Coalition Leadership event where
40 executive leaders from an extensive cross section of our
membership engaged directly with Prime Minister Tony Abbott
and eight senior Australian Government ministers including Julie
Bishop and Warren Truss.
This Canberra event provided a unique opportunity for senior
representatives from Australia’s resource industry to hear from
key political decision makers and discuss a raft of important policy
issues impacting their individual enterprises and our wider industry.
Shortly thereafter, AMMA also facilitated a private meeting
between Employment Minister Eric Abetz and various leaders
from our industry to discuss the key areas of workplace relations
reform that AMMA has consistently advocated in recent years.
The ongoing support we receive from our members enables
AMMA to maintain and expand our representative work across
critical policy areas impacting all parts of Australia’s resource
industry. It ensures our industry can grow and remain the
cornerstone of our national economic wellbeing.
By now many of you will have received the AMMA 2014
Activities Report, distributed to all members along with
AMMA’s 2015 membership renewal information. Also
available on the AMMA website, the Activities Report outlines
the breadth of AMMA’s policy and influence work for all parts
of our diverse membership.
AMMA looks forward to continuing to advance the interests of
our members and to actively influencing the government’s policy
agenda in 2015 and beyond.
RP
RESOURCE
PEOPLE
SUMMER 2014-15
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