The number of women working in WA’s resources sector has doubled in the past two years according to the latest diversity and inclusion report released by the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA (CME).
Produced every two years, CME’s 2024 Diversity and Inclusion in the Western Australian Resources Sector Report is based on data collected in 2023 from 36 member companies, encompassing 86,551 employees.
CME Chief Executive Officer, Rebecca Tomkinson, said the WA resources sector understood the value of attracting diversity of talent and the report provided an evidence base for industry to track its performance.
“The data is a detailed snapshot over time. The proportion of women in the mining and resources workforce has increased from 18.8 per cent to 24.8 per cent over the last decade,” Ms Tomkinson said.
“But of the 10,000-plus jobs that women have taken up in the resources industry in that time, more than half have been created in the past two years, effectively doubling women’s participation in a concentrated timeframe.
“Since CME’s last survey in 2021, there has been an increase in female participation of 3.3 per cent or 5,437 jobs.
“That sort of exponential improvement speaks volumes about the impact of actionable strategies in accelerating women’s participation.”
The report highlights the uptick in women working as machinery operators and drivers, rising from 17 per cent in 2019-2021 to 21.4 per cent in 2021-2023. Similarly, women in management positions increased from 20.7 per cent to 23.5 per cent and women in board roles increased from 24.4 per cent to 32.8 per cent.
In addition, participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples rose 0.4 per cent since the 2021 survey to a 5.6 per cent workforce representation, higher than the 2 per cent general employment proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in WA.
The report highlights the industry’s investment over many years in initiatives designed to drive change, and details case studies of successful programs.
Ms Tomkinson said the report was an important tool in helping companies and communities understand what had worked and what hadn’t in attracting a more diverse workforce to the resources sector but cautioned against complacency despite the significant progress.
“While the data in this report shows some pleasing evidence of recent progress, we don’t shy away from the fact that there remains much work to be done and we must keep this positive momentum going,” she said.
“And that means bringing the entire workforce along on the design and adoption of an inclusive, respectful culture that embraces the diversity of our WA community.
“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.”
