Event to celebrate women working in the mining sector

The longest serving woman in the history of the Queensland Parliament, the Honourable Judy Spence, will tonight help celebrate women working in nontraditional roles.

The Minister for Police, Corrective Services and Sport, Ms Spence, who has been a Member of Parliament for the past 19 years, will be a special guest at a mining industry networking event in Brisbane.

In aid of the not-for-profit organisation Women In Mining And Resource Queensland, the event sponsored by Rio Tinto Coal Australia is aimed at providing an opportunity for those employed in the industry to network, gain career advice and share strategies and success stories.

Rio Tinto Coal Australia General Manager External Relations Fiona Nicholls said the event would provide an opportunity for guests to hear about Ms Spence's success in what was previously regarded as a male dominated industry.

"We are delighted to have the Minister as our guest speaker as she exemplifies what it means to be a leader and forge new paths for women in non-traditional areas," Ms Nicholls said.

"The event will be a great opportunity to hear her story, her challenges and achievements, many of which will have parallels for women in mining."

Ms Nicholls said the mining sector has previously been a male dominated industry yet that trend appears to be fading as more women are increasingly attracted to jobs in the resource industry.

"Each year the number of women we have working in the mines is increasing ranging from blast operators to truck drivers and engineers," she said.

"At Rio Tinto Coal Australia we have also recently appointed our first female General Manager of Operations at one of our coal mines in New South Wales.

"Rio Tinto Coal Australia is a national leader when it comes to recruiting women into non-traditional roles. Our Hail Creek Mine at Mackay has won national and state awards for its success in boosting female employment numbers in non-traditional roles. Last year the mine was presented with a Business Achievement Award by the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency and the inaugural Resources Award for Women from the Queensland Resources Council (QRC)."

Ms Nicholls said Rio Tinto Coal Australia was proud to support Women In Mining And Resource Queensland.

The event will also showcase a long running partnership that Rio Tinto Coal Australia has maintained with The University of Queensland.
A live koala exhibit will be part of a display by Koala Venture, the country's longest running koala research study.

The University of Queensland and Rio Tinto Coal Australia started studying koalas at Blair Athol Mine in 1989. Since then the study has provided important information on the ecology of these inland koalas, including food-tree and habitat preferences and the impact of drought on breeding behaviour.

ENDS

Media contact:
Alison Smith 3361 4223 / 0438 787 038

Media release - Event to celebrate women working in the mining sector [PDF: 19 KB]