The Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA was privileged to be able to host an event on July 25 headlined by Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins.
The event was particularly relevant in light of the Parliamentary Inquiry Into Sexual Harassment Against Women in the FIFO Mining Industry – and the importance of the topic and progress in this area was underscored by a capacity crowd of more than 450 people at the Perth Exhibition and Convention Centre.
Commissioner Jenkins’ keynote speech gave some key insights into the landmark Respect@Work report she delivered in 2020 and steps that had been taken since by governments and industry across the country. She also highlighted some important learnings for the WA mining and resources sector in the wake of the Parliamentary Inquiry.
We were also fortunate enough to have Commissioner Jenkins join a follow-up panel discussion that included the chair of the Parliamentary Inquiry and Deputy WA Liberal Leader Libby Mettam MLA, alongside Rio Tinto’s Chief Executive of Iron Ore Simon Trott. The high volume of questions from the very diverse audience was another pointer to the strong commitment by our sector to eliminate all instances of sexual harassment and assault and provide a safe and inclusive workspace for more than 156,000 employees.
Both the Enough is Enough report (released as a result of the Parliamentary Inquiry) and this important event highlight there is still significant work to do in achieving those goals. But the WA mining and resources sector takes strong encouragement from Commissioner Jenkins’ positive outlook on the work that has been done so far and her advice on the road ahead.
CME is grateful to Commissioner Jenkins, Ms Mettam and Mr Trott for the time, effort and insights they contributed to the event, and also to the sponsors on the day Rio Tinto and ReGen Strategic.
