AusIMM International Women’s Day Event Series
Once again, ATC Williams was proud to sponsor AusIMM’s International Women’s Day Event Series 2022. Sponsorship of these impactful events is a way to declare our commitment to diversity in our industry and the workplace.
The theme for International Women’s Day 2022 was #BreakTheBias. A day to collectively celebrate women’s achievements, raise awareness against bias and take action for equality. Our staff share their highlights below.
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Nicola Logan, Water Management Service Area Leader, says, “I enjoy going to the IWD events held by AusIMM. Every year the speakers highlight the challenges our industry and society face and the progress that we are making on the road to equality. This year the statistics that stood out to me was that older women are the fastest-growing group to experience homelessness in Australia, at almost double the rate of other groups. This is often caused by a lack of financial security caused by working part-time or casually, lack of superannuation, the gender pay gap and an increasingly unaffordable rental market.”
The March long series included five special luncheons with high-profile keynote speakers, joining together to celebrate the achievements of women in mining and champion the conversation about diversity and inclusion in the mining industry.
Melbourne’s event was held at the Arts Centre on Tuesday 8th March and was well attended by twelve of our Victorian staff, male and female. The keynote speaker was Chyloe Kurdas, a former elite Australian rules footballer, television and radio sports commentator. As AFL Victoria’s Female Football Development Manager, Chyloe has spent a decade building Australia’s first national women’s football competition, the AFLW.
Chyloe’s keynote speech was educational and inspirational. She drew on her experience developing the Australian Women’s Football League to demonstrate building gender equity and cultural change, working from within organisations. She shared great examples of working within and around existing frameworks to create change and empower people.
Following postponement due to the Brisbane floods, the Queensland event was held at the Pullman King George Square on Monday 21st March. The keynote speaker for this event was Dr Jenine Beekhuyzen OAM, an entrepreneur and CEO of her technology consulting company and an advocate for innovation and diversity in STEM. Jenine is a futurist who believes existing structures in the technology industry must change to serve tomorrow’s digital landscape and that our children’s future job prospects depend on such change.
Jenine’s keynote shared her work as the Founder and CEO of the Tech Girls Movement, which aims to engage over 10,000 girls directly in the STEM entrepreneurship program. The achievements of the participants in the program were extremely inspiring, with girls as young as seven creating apps to address issues in their local communities.
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James Parker, Senior Engineer, attended the Brisbane event and said, “It was great to attend an event where everyone was committed to seeing more women involved in mining, focusing on young girls in STEM as a pathway. Dr Beekhuyzen’s experience in STEM and advocacy of young girls made me think about how I can positively influence my friends with young daughters with an aptitude for STEM to join the #techgirlaresuperheros program.”
