This International Women’s Day, MinRes is acknowledging the 2024 theme – Count Her In: Invest in Women. Accelerate Progress – through a range of initiatives at our headquarters and regional sites.
This year’s theme is based on the United Nations 68th Commission on the Status of Women. Count Her In emphasises the pathways to greater economic inclusion for women everywhere.
Women can face obstacles to achieving equal participation in the economy and employment pathways, so MinRes aims to provide support and initiatives for our female workforce to build capability and strengthen capacity to learn, earn and lead.
International Women’s Day at MinRes
A panel discussion event was held at the MinRes headquarters, facilitated by MinRes General Manager Facilities Bethanie Ibrahim and underpinned by the 2024 International Women’s Day theme.
Panel speakers included Australia’s first female Foreign Minister the Hon. Julie Bishop, MinRes Chief Executive Lithium Josh Thurlow, MinRes Executive General Manager Enterprise Resource Planning Kristy Doyle, and MinRes Manager Orebody Knowledge and Operations Support Ivy Chen.
The panel discussed opportunities for businesses and communities to implement education, systems and pathways to reach gender equality.
This week we also partnered with Australian Super to hold “Brighter Futures for Women” sessions encouraging pathways to economic inclusion for women and covering themes including the gender superannuation gap and ways to take better control of your superannuation.
Each session aimed to empower women to take control of their financial future with simple steps that can make a significant difference to their superannuation balance.
Across our MinRes sites, information and resources were shared to encourage meaningful conversation on the important progress already made towards gender equality and the obstacles that remain for women.
A cohort of female MinRes leaders also had the opportunity to attend the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy International Women’s Day Perth event to celebrate the achievements of women in mining, build professional connections and enjoy an inspiring presentation from high-profile keynote speaker and Antarctic Expedition Leader Rachael Robertson.
MinRes: committed to count women in
Headquarters supporting mothers returning to work
MinRes has provided a world-class headquarters to significantly contribute to mothers overcoming the barriers to returning to the workforce.
The MinRes crèche provides free care for children while their parents or guardians are involved in work, at the gym, or have other engagements within the building. The crèche is open six days a week and supervised by certified in-house staff.
The onsite restaurant and café have healthy, discounted food to offer convenience for busy working parents. In addition, take-home family dinners are available so parents can skip food preparation and still provide healthy and value-for-money meals for their family.
Additional conveniences include the MinRes gym at the discounted cost of $5.00 a week and offering classes and personal training sessions, along with a medical centre is available for urgent health concerns or routine check-ups to save the commute to an external medical provider.
Dedicated parents’ rooms at the headquarters are equipped with the amenities a parent or child may require and available to express or feed a child.
Promoting a gender equal workplace
In addition to opportunities such as part-time roles for mothers returning to work at MinRes, we have introduced primary and secondary paid parental leave provisions to demonstrate our family values and recognise all family types.
This approach acknowledges and supports the shared responsibility of parenthood, while breaking down traditional gender norms and promoting work-life balance.
We conduct a thorough gender pay review annually to identify and address any existing gender disparities in compensation. By actively monitoring and addressing pay equity, we strive to provide fair and equitable compensation to all employees, regardless of gender.
MinRes Inspire program
We provide several training and development programs for female employees at MinRes to promote gender equity in the workplace, including the Inspire program.
The six-month program, launched in August 2022, empowers and elevates emerging and inspiring women within our workforce. This comprehensive program provides targeted support, mentoring, and skill development opportunities to help women reach their full leadership potential.
By nurturing and promoting female talent, we aim to create a more diverse and inclusive leadership pipeline and promote greater gender balance across MinRes.
To date, five cohorts have been successfully implemented, benefiting a total of 69 employees located at our regional and metro sites.
