‘Not helpful’: Aussie mining video making men mad

A video about female apprentices entering the mining industry has been met with backlash by men. Women have a powerful message for the haters.

A video about a fresh batch of female apprentices entering the mining industry has been met with backlash from men who claim women aren’t “the best candidates” for the male-dominated industry.

The video, published by 7News, reported on the 30 tradies - over 70 per cent of whom are female - taking up apprenticeships with BHP Mitsubishi Alliance in Queensland coalfields.

“More women and a more diverse workforce generally is a safer and more productive workplace,” Adam Lancey, BMA Asset President told 7News in the video.

The video reported on the 30 tradies taking up apprenticeships as boilermakers, electricians and diesel fitters with BHP Mitsubishi Alliance. Picture: 7News

The video was met with a grim response on social media, with a number of men questioning if women were the best pick for the apprenticeship or if they were chosen simply to push an agenda and hit quotas.

“Highly doubt that it’s the best candidate for the job in this case,” one person wrote.

“Would be good to see equal opportunity and not just a statistic opportunity,” another person added.

“Fellas! Learn how the system works! Put on your application that you identify as a women (sic) and you’ll get the green light!” said another.

“Interesting that in a predominantly male industry, 75 per cent of the best applicants (are) women (this) time around. It’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out in the future. There’s a lot of people’s lives in these kid’s hands,” wrote another.

22 of the 30 apprentices in the recent intake are women. Picture: Supplied/BHP

For some working in the mining industry, the comments were “unsurprising”.

“I think it’s really disappointing that women’s contribution and participation in the mining sector continues to be questioned,” Bronwyn Barnes, the executive chair of Indiana Resources and president and CEO of High Power Exploration, told news.com.au.

“These kinds of misogynistic comments continue to show how difficult it is for women to be successful in the industry. I don’t think these comments are restricted to Facebook, I’ve got first-hand feedback from women, where these kind of comments are made to them every day in the workplace.”

Sienna Mallon, who works as a production superintendent in Queensland’s mining industry, agrees the comments were “disappointing to see”.

As someone who opens up about her job on social media, the 27-year-old said she’s used to receiving similar comments online.

“Every time I post a video about being a woman in the mining industry, I get many comments saying ‘you just got your job because you’re a woman’ and ‘did you sleep your way to the top?’.”

While she said there’s a level of “frustration” reading the disappointing reaction to the clip, she said getting angry “isn’t helpful”.

“It’s not helping us move forward. Their opinions aren’t valuable,” she said.

“As women, we’ve proven time and time again through research that women are high performers they’re good problem solvers, and they’re better at relationship building.”

Sienna Mallon works in the mining industry in Queensland. Picture Instagram@sienna_mallonn

At BHP alone, company data found inclusive and diverse teams “outperform other teams on safety, productivity and culture”.

Today, women make up 36 per cent of the company’s employees globally. In Australia, women currently make up 16 per cent of the wider mining workforce.

Earlier this month, BHP became the first mining company in Chile to surpass 40 per cent female representation.

“These achievements are no coincidence. It’s taken disruptive policies and sustained investment.” BHP President Australia Geraldine Slattery, said during an International Women’s Day speech this month.

“Investing in entry and career pathways, investing in training, in development and career progression, in culture and facilities.”

Rise in women in mining

Over the last two decades, the number of women employed full-time in mining nationally jumped from 8,700 in August 2002 to 45,000 in August 2022, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Ms Barnes suggests the rise in women is the result of significant effort from the industry.

“Companies dedicate significant resources to attract and retain women into the mining sector in all roles, from the top to the bottom of organisations.”

Vivian Simonelli, a current committee member for Women in Mining Victoria and managing partner of Ellis King, said the increase can be seen across different aspects of the mining sector.

“Traditionally, you’d find women in civil, chemical, warehouse environmental (roles). And now you see them in mechanical, electrical, you’re seeing them across all of the disciplines,” she told news.com.au.

“When I first started out (25 years ago) it was a nightmare. You’d go to an engineering lunch and there would be two women … now it’s about 60/40 (compared to men).”

45,000 women were emploted full-time in mining nationally in August 2022 Picture: Supplied/BHP

But despite the increase in women in the industry, there’s still a long way to go when it comes to changing attitudes.

“It’s changing but there’s still a lot of work to done,” said Ms Simonelli.

“There’s still a lot of statistical problems at sites, there’s still sexual harassment happening at sites, there’s still stuff that should not be going on happening at sites. But every mining company that I know of is doing their utmost to run surveys to understand where the problems are, and to address those problems.”

According to a 2022 national survey, 62 per cent of women working in mining has experienced workplace sexual harassment and 25 per cent of men.

Overall, 32 per cent of people working in mining experienced sexual harassment in the last five years.

After being in the industry for 18 months, Ms Mallon knows it’s not easy being a woman in mining.

“These industries are really hard. When I start a job as a woman, people assume that I’m incompetent so I have to prove that I’m competent. Whereas when you’re a man, you’re perceived as competent, until you prove you’re incompetent.”

“But by us being forced into (dealing with) this, we’re building a strength that men will never have to even start trying to build.”

It’s why she advises women to “push through and to keep chasing your dreams”.

“There’s so much opportunity.”

Similarly, Ms Barnes also suggested those looking into a career in mining need be “pretty resilient”, noting she’s mentored many women who’ve had successful careers in the industry.

“It can be quite a challenging environment at times. (But) the opportunities are there if you’re brave enough to take them.”