The number of women working in Western Australia’s resources sector has doubled since 2021, reinforcing the state’s push for more diversity in its resources industry.
The finding comes from the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA’s (CME) ‘2024 Diversity and Inclusion in the Western Australian Resources Sector’ report, based on data collected from 36 member companies across more than 86,000 employees.
CME chief executive officer Rebecca Tomkinson said the WA resources sector understood the value of attracting diversity of talent.
“The data is a detailed snapshot over time,” Tomkinson said. “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.
“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.”
Women working as machinery operators and drivers rose from 17 per cent in 2019–2021 to 21.4 per cent in 2021–2023.
Women in management positions also increased in that time frame, jumping from 20.7 per cent to 23.5 per cent, with women in board roles increasing from 24.4 per cent to 32.8 per cent.
Participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples rose 0.4 per cent since 2021 survey to a 5.6 per cent workforce representation.
“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,” Tomkinson 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.”
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