BHP is succeeding at attracting females into apprenticeships in the Bowen Basin coalfields
Almost three quarters of the new apprentices this year at BHP’s Bowen Basin coalfields in Queensland are female - in a trend that is increasingly becoming the norm.
Carla Devereux once thought kohl would be a big part of her career, but it turns out that coal - at BHP’s Saraji open pit mine in the Bowen Basin region of Queensland - is where her future likely lies.
Ms Devereux is one of the 22 female apprentices, out of a cohort of 30 in total, who have recently started their careers with BHP Mitsubishi Alliance in the Queensland coalfields.
She had been working as a council community relations officer, and previous to that completed a diploma of beauty therapy after finishing school.
BHP, which has a target to reach gender balance in terms of employee numbers by 2025 - defined as 40 per cent of staff who identify as female - says it is the fourth year in a row in which the number of female apprentices in the BMA division has outnumbered men.
The company says globally, women now represent more than a third of BHP’s employees, at 36.2 per cent, up from just 17.6 per cent in 2016 when the company set about addressing its gender imbalance.
BMA asset president Adam Lancey said the company’s own data showed that inclusive and diverse teams were safer, more productive, and had a stronger culture.
“It’s inspiring to see the industry changing for the better and more women on the tools in trade apprenticeships,’’ Mr Lancey said.
Ms Devereux, 33, said she was hesitant at first as a “mature age apprentice’’, however the experience had been rewarding.
The mother of three had never set foot on a mine site before, and said the change was “massive’’.
“It’s definitely like chalk and cheese but I’m good at adapting to anything so it doesn’t bother me,’’ she said.
“The only thing that was daunting was ‘Am I going to be the oldest one?’ I thought I was going to be with just a bunch of 17-year and 18-year-olds and they’re going to be like, ‘What is she doing here?’’’
She certainly wasn’t the sole new recruit coming in with more experience under her belt however, with auto electrical apprentice Taylor Groth, 31, stepping up from five years as a haul truck driver to take on a new challenge, while first year apprentice Karissa Bailey, 18, who has just finished a diesel fitting apprenticeship, came in straight out of high school.
“I liked having a look inside the trucks in the engine, seeing how and why things work, diagnosing things, changing out filters and oil, it’s just all interesting to me,’’ Ms Bailey said.
“Being freshly out of school, I think it’s a really good kickstart to my career.
“My dad’s in the mining industry as well, so it’s really good to see his beliefs and perspectives on it. He pushes me to gain new experiences and learn new things.”
While BHP is making gains on the number of females in its workforce, it still has a way to go on the gender pay gap, with the company’s median gender pay gap, reported this week as part of the inaugural gender pay gap report from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, coming in at 20.3 per cent.
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