We need to talk about sexual harassment: beyond the WA parliamentary inquiry with Ms. Kim Giddens (MLA)

There has been a significant spotlight on the mining industry and its culture, highlighted by the Respect@Work Report, which found that 74 per cent of women in the mining industry had experienced sexual harassment in the last five years.

The Enough is Enough report was released in June and includes the stories of women who have been subjected to appalling abuse on WA mine sites and makes 24 key recommendations for change, including a focus on workplace culture and establishing people-centric practices.

Our CEO Louise Weine stated that “we’ve worked with our mining and resources members for many years to better support systemic and cultural change to stop these ongoing and appalling incidents on mine sites. Our role is to attract more female talent into the industry, but when you consider the current low female participation rate – only 19.1%, and that 74% of these women have experienced harassment, we have a lot of work to do.”

As part of our commitment to support our membership and facilitate this important conversation, we and Premium Corporate Member Rio Tinto hosted a deep dive with Ms. Giddens into the findings, and importantly the recommendations to change the culture, make mining sites safe, and end sexual harassment and assault against women in the FIFO industry.

This event took place on July 21 and was a forum that provided keen insight into the realities of women’s experiences on mine sites. We learned that NAWO members will need to actively work together to make all operational sites and workplaces safe, respectful, and inclusive.

During this event, we also learned that the committee was formed in response to growing media attention, the respect@work report, and the larger #MeToo movement. We explored the inquiry’s findings, process and reflected on the cultural changes that need to take place within the mining industry, as well as other operational industries. Below is a clip from the event of Ms. Giddens discussing the effectiveness of quotas.

NAWO members can watch the entire recording of the event.