At AEMO, we are committed to a building a diverse and balanced workforce with equal and exciting opportunities for our female team members in what is still a male dominated industry.
Aligning with that commitment is our celebration today of International Women’s Day (IWD) which takes place globally this Sunday, 8 March. We are very pleased to recognise and celebrate IWD here at AEMO as we pride ourselves on the strength of our diversity. We are fortunate as an organisation that AEMO’s own Managing Director and CEO, Audrey Zibelman, (seen in the image above with a number of female energy industry executives and leaders) is part of a very influential club of female chief executives in the energy industry.
To celebrate the day, AEMO's Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Committee is proud to partner with the Women@AEMO group in hosting events across the
nation, featuring speeches from senior members of our leadership team. We are
also encouraging all AEMO employees to bring along a gold coin donation and this
year all funds raised will go One Girl, a charity focused on bringing quality education
to girls around the globe.
The global theme for this year's event is Each for Equal, which is about recognising that an equal world is an enabled world. This theme aligns closely with our Corporate Value of Inclusivity, and our D&I Committee's gender pillar.
"Improving gender equality is everybody's responsibility. Every action we take, event we attend, or thing we say, is a perfect opportunity to challenge stereotypes, fight bias, and celebrate women's achievements around the globe," said D&I Chair, Michelle Norris.
In line with the theme of Each for Equal, here are some current statistics from UN Women Australia:
- Women occupy only 24% of parliamentary seats worldwide. That means policies are often made without women's substantive contribution or gender perspective.
- Women earn 23% less than men globally. That means higher incidences of poverty, and more vulnerability to external shocks, like unforeseen costs or financial circumstances.
- Women spend three times as many hours as men in unpaid care and domestic work. That means less time for other activities, like paid work, education, and leisure, and reinforces gender-based social and economic structures.
"Uplifting women doesn't just help uplift our communities, it uplifts our workplace, schools and societies – am sure that means a better world for everybody," said Neetika Karpani of Women@AEMO.
In our rapidly evolving energy industry it’s imperative that all forward thinking organisations embrace a diverse and balanced workforce in order to successfully lead, and manage, the changes and challenges that lie ahead in our sector.
Take a listen to our podcast from last year featuring four of our female engineers having a discussion about working in a predominately male industry and field, and being a force for change.
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