AREEA chief executive Steve Knott has this Australia Day been appointed a Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AM) for “significant service to the resources and energy industries, to the advancement of women, and to industrial relations”.

Mr Knott has led Australia’s resource industry employer group, AREEA, since 1998.

Over almost two decades he has overseen the organisation’s national policy development, workplace consulting services and employment support programs during a period where the industry’s workforce grew from about 85,000 employees to now directly employ 228,000 Australians.

In his role as one of Australia’s leading identities for the national resources and energy industries, as well as one of the country’s preeminent industrial relations specialists, Mr Knott has consistently advocated for policy and industry outcomes that promote AREEA’s long held vision: To ensure the Australian resource industry is an attractive and competitive place to employ people, invest, do business and contribute to Australia’s national wellbeing.

In addition to leading AREEA, Mr Knott’s contribution to industrial relations in Australia extends to multiple advisory councils and board positions including:

• Member of the International Labour Advisory Council since 2006.
• Represented the resources sector and Australian employers generally at numerous International Labour Organisation forums in Geneva and the Asia Pacific Region.
• Member of the National Workplace Relations Consultative Council since 2006.
• Member of the Ministerial Advisory Council on Skilled Migration since 2015.
• Director of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) since 2014, and member of the ACCI General Council since 1998.

Mr Knott’s contribution to the advancement of women has primarily been through leadership of the Australian Women in Resources Alliance (AWRA), an Australian Government-backed initiative which since 2011 has worked to lift the number of women working within the resources, energy and allied construction and servicing sectors.

Among the programs overseen by Mr Knott to provide women with greater opportunity in the resources sector include specialist mentoring, implementing best practice diversity and recruitment processes within resource companies and developing innovative employer toolkits and support materials for greater workforce diversity outcomes.

“Being appointed a Member of the Order of Australia is a proud and special moment. I am thankful that throughout my career I have been able to passionately advocate for policy and industry outcomes that maximise the employment opportunities available to Australians in our diverse and wonderful resources and energy sectors,” Mr Knott said.

“I wish to offer my sincere gratitude to the many people over my working life whom without their support this award would not have been possible. I have been fortunate to have some great career and life mentors. This, together with working in an industry that provides prosperity here in Australia and abroad, is an absolute privilege.”

Further background for media:
Mr Steve Knott now resides in Melbourne however is proudly ‘born and bred’ in Tasmania, having attended Montagu Bay Primary, Rose Bay High and Hobart Technical College.

He is well known for an amateur track and field career in which he won more than 100 state titles, held national titles in both the long jump and pole vault, and compete in the 1982 Commonwealth Games three years after having open heart surgery.

Prior to joining AREEA he worked at Tasmania’s Hydro Electric Commission in roles ranging from Principal Industrial Advocate and Site Construction Industrial Officer through to IR and HR Manager Tasmania.

Mr Knott holds a post graduate diploma in business administration from Monash University and has professional memberships with the Australian Institute of Company Directors, the Industrial Relations Society of Victoria, and is also a Fellow of the Australian Human Resources Institute.

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