WOMEN AT THE COALFACE
A brilliant blue sky, the vast red earth, pits and trucks and workers in yellow hi-vis. This scene has been the picture of Australian prosperity for decades. But despite our wealth of coal, gold and diamonds putting Australia at the forefront of mining innovation, the number of women in the industry has remained stubbornly low. A push to increase female participation has only managed to lift it from 14 per cent in the 1990s to 18 per cent today.
The masculine workplace culture has been blamed for this trend. More recently, allegations of rampant sexual harassment have revealed a darker side to the problem. Insiders say the industry is headed for a reckoning.
The inquiry into sexual harassment in the Western Australia FIFO (fly-in, fly-out) industry has uncovered things that are “absolutely heart-wrenching,” says mining board director Susie Corlett. “They can’t be explained away as a few bad eggs. It speaks to systemic
