With the industry making efforts to improve the diversity and inclusivity of its workforce, a recent report has found that in Western Australia participation has improved dramatically.
The Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA (CME) has released its latest diversity and inclusion report.
CME produces its Diversity and Inclusion in the Western Australian Resources Sector Report every two years. The 2024 report was created based on data collected in 2023 from 36 member companies, encompassing 86,551 employees.
CME CEO, Rebecca Tomkinson, said that she was pleased by the rapid growth the sector has achieved, with the number of women joining the sector in Western Australia doubling in the last two years.
“The most recent report compares 2021 to 2023 and found 5,437 women took up jobs in the industry in that two-year period – by far the best result we’ve ever recorded,” Ms Tomkinson said.
“For context, our diversity and inclusion report is based on member surveys carried out every two years and dates back to 2011.
“Those surveys have found around 10,000 women joined the resources sector over the past decade – but more than half of that growth occurred between 2021 and 2023 alone.”
Ms Tomkinson said that women now account for just under a quarter of the sector’s workforce (24.8 per cent).
“That is a remarkable improvement of 3.3 percentage points in just two years, and up from 19 per cent recorded in our first survey in 2013.
“Drilling further into the data, it has been incredibly encouraging to see a trend away from women being confined to clerical or administrative roles and increasingly choosing roles in traditionally male-dominated areas.
“For example, 21.4 per cent of machinery operators or drivers were women in 2023 – practically double the eleven per cent recorded in 2013. In the same vein, the proportion of female technicians and trade workers was only 5.4 per cent in 2019 but has since surged to 12.9 per cent.”
Ms Tomkinson said that women are also increasingly represented in the more senior ranks of CME’s members’ operations.
“Nearly one quarter (23.5 per cent) of managers were women in 2023, up from 15 per cent a decade ago. Women also now account for 32.8 per cent of board roles, nearly double the 18.2 per cent from 2013.
“We’ve also seen some positive momentum in the resources sector’s employment outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. First Nations People were 5.6 per cent of the overall workforce in 2023, an improvement of 0.4 percentage points or nearly 1,000 additional jobs compared to 2021.
“Significantly the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in management roles grew from 0.9 per cent in 2021 to three per cent in 2023.”
Ms Tomkinson explained that CME’s efforts to improve diversity are not about symbolic participation. Research has repeatedly found that diverse and inclusive workplaces perform better on a wide range of metrics.
“They are more productive, more innovative, have reduced staff turnover and foster an environment of teamwork and cooperation. All successful teams – and companies – require a broad mix of strengths and talents and one of the best ways to achieve that is to focus on diversity in your hiring,” Ms Tomkinson said.
“It is also important to note that diversity goes far beyond gender and race. It also means people of different physical ability, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity and religious belief.”
A journey of a thousand miles
Ms Tomkinson said that while the industry has made a positive start, it can’t shy away from the fact that there is still work to be done to take full advantage of the positive momentum and continue to improve the diversity and inclusivity of resources workplaces.
“Many of our members have longstanding and genuine commitments to boosting both female participation and opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and it is really their work that is reflected in the results of the Diversity and Inclusion report.
“CME plays an important role in this too. We facilitate the sharing of information in many ways, including forums that allow our members to learn from each other – both the successes and the failures.”
Ms Tomkinson explained that it is important that the industry continues to innovate, try new things and share the lessons in order to maintain momentum towards an inclusive culture that can attract the best and brightest talent to the industry.
“Ultimately, we need the resources sector workforce to more accurately reflect the makeup of society – and that means boosting the proportion of women workers much closer to 50 per cent and ensuring other diversity metrics are reflective of the broader Australian population.”
Leading the way
The Western Australian resources sector currently leads the nation on diversity measures. Across Australia, women’s participation in the industry is approximately 22 per cent, but in Western Australia it is 24.8 per cent.
Additionally, at 5.6 per cent, the Western Australian resources sector has achieved nearly double the 3.7 per cent national average for workforce participation by Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander Peoples.
Ms Tomkinson said that one of the most important lessons that other industries can take from Western Australia is that achieving diversity is change, and all change is a journey.
“It takes time and effort and a commitment to creating the kind of workplace that is attractive to a wide range of prospective employees.
“That means stamping out harassment, discrimination and bullying in all their forms, and placing inclusivity at the centre of decision-making.
“The resources sector has not shied away from the issues uncovered through the parliamentary inquiry into sexual harassment against women in the FIFO mining industry.
“We know that ongoing vigilance and sharing learnings within the sector has been key to demonstrating that our workplaces are safe, respectful and inclusive environments for all employees.”
Ms Tomkinson said that the results of that approach are borne out by the latest Diversity and Inclusion Report, with the sector’s strongest ever growth in women workers and female participation recorded in a two-year period that encompassed the parliamentary inquiry and the release of the Enough is Enough report.
“The easiest first step is to assess how your company currently performs on diversity metrics, because you can’t improve what you don’t measure.”
Driving change
CME’s member companies have focused their efforts over many years to implement policies and initiatives aimed at increasing women’s and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ participation.
Ms Tomkinson said that there are many to choose from, but some that stood out to her as key drivers of change include:
The Indigenous Pathways Program – a collaboration between Monadelphous and Rio Tinto – which offers upskilling, development and mentoring to increase the number of skilled and qualified Indigenous individuals in the workforce
AngloGold Ashanti Australia committing to becoming a menopause-friendly employer as part of creating an inclusive workplace that is physically and psychologically safe and ensuring retention of women at all stages of life
The Monadelphous Crane Operations Pathway Traineeship Program, a 36-month initiative aimed at equipping female and Indigenous trainees with the skills to qualify as crane operators with nationally recognised qualifications and permanent full-time positions
“This final initiative was also the winner of Outstanding Company Initiative in CME’s 2024 Women in Resources Awards.”
A more diverse future
Ms Tomkinson said that the Western Australian resources sector remains steadfastly committed to its focus on diversity and inclusion.
“While the most recent report shows significant progress, we know our work is far from complete. I would love a repeat of the kind of growth recorded in 2024 – but with a decade of Diversity and Inclusion reports under our belt now, we know that progress is not always linear.
“The aim is for women’s participation in the resources sector to continue tracking towards 50 per cent, while also maintaining a strong focus on growing the career pathways available to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
“Importantly, we also want to see women and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Peoples increasingly employed across a wide variety of roles – not siloed in certain areas of a company’s operations. We also want to see both cohorts progressing through the ranks and becoming more embedded in the management and director levels of the sector.”
Ms Tomkinson said that CME and its member companies remain committed to the journey to grow and promote diversity and inclusion within their workforces, through continued investment in evidence-based approaches, sharing lessons learned and implementing new initiatives.
“The resources sector has done a lot of work to lead the way, but ultimately it’s the responsibility of every single business to provide a physically and psychosocially safe workplace.”
