The resources and energy industry united in its pursuit of increasing women’s participation by coming together to celebrate International Women’s Day 2019 last week.

AREEA proudly celebrated the occasion by joining industry colleagues and gender diversity leaders at the UN Women National Committee Australia Brisbane IWD Breakfast 2019 and also the QRC/WIMARQ International Women’s Day annual breakfast.

On a day of gender diversity celebration, AREEA reflected on the industry leading the way in some areas, while acknowledging a lot more work is still needed.

AREEA is passionate about gender diversity, particularly in the resources and energy industry, and continues responding to members’ growing aspirations to increase the representation of women at all levels in their organisations through our national workforce gender diversity initiative, the Australian Women in Resources Alliance (AWRA).

We’re proud to support companies in their gender diversity journey and reach their goals to grow female representation in the workplace. Through a number of initiatives and programs, we’re promoting the diversity of the resources and energy industry, raising awareness amongst young Australians to build the future workforce and ensure a pipeline of home-grown skills.

The AWRA Advisory Board, made up of high level people and culture professionals in the resources and energy industry assists AREEA in driving the strategic direction of the AWRA program. Some initiatives currently being worked on include:

• A benchmarking survey of diversity & inclusion initiatives and programs specifically tailored  to our industry
• A psychological safety audit
• An industry designed and led Future Women Leaders program

Bright Future STEM Program 

AREEA recently launched the Bright Future STEM program, giving students a taste of the resources and energy industry’s diverse range of highly-skilled and diverse occupations through an initiative encouraging an interest in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) careers.

In particular, the program will focus on promoting female role models in the resources and energy industry to spark the interest of school-aged girls, ensuring they understand the broad range of opportunities.

“There will be a focus on breaking gender stereotypes of women in STEM by having female role models speak to the groups,” AREEA Acting Chief Executive Tara Diamond said.

The program will be rolled in Queensland, Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, through a coordinated series of school-based information and engagement sessions, promoting STEM careers for students aged 9 to 11.

The Bright Future STEM program is a national school-based STEM resources and energy industry program engaging girls and boys to provide them with exposure to female STEM professionals, encourage an interest in STEM careers and give insight into future STEM employment in the Australian resources and energy industry.

To participate in AREEA’s 2019 Bright Future STEM program, or for more information, contact AREEA’s Program Manager at [email protected] or via 1800 627 771.