St Barbara Limited is championing women’s roles in the workplace, having received the Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s (WGEA) ‘Employer of Choice for Gender Equality’ citation for the sixth consecutive year.
To receive the citation, organisations are required to demonstrate how they are addressing a number of benchmarks for gender equality including leadership, learning and development, gender remuneration gaps, flexible working and other initiatives to support family responsibilities, employee consultation, preventing sex-based harassment and discrimination, and targets for improving gender equality outcomes.
The WGEA has strengthened the eligibility criteria, by placing even greater emphasis on accountability, outcomes, evidence and internal reporting processes.
Out of 119 organisations, St Barbara was the only mining company to receive the citation.
St Barbara has set targets for the representation of women across the company, as well as in leadership roles and Board representation. It also provides industry best practice parental leave and return to work provisions, and special paid leave for domestic violence victims.
St Barbara Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Craig Jetson, is continuing St Barbara’s legacy of gender equality by signing on as a WGEA Pay Equity Ambassador, this latest citation confirms the company’s commitment to addressing pay equity and ensuring gender equality in recruitment, promotions and reward and recognition.
Mr Jetson said, “I feel privileged to have joined a company that is leading the mining industry when it comes to gender equality.
“As the only mining company to receive the citation again this year, I strongly encourage more resource companies to participate in the WGEA Employer of Choice program to discover the benefits diversity brings to innovation, engagement and performance,” he added.
Mr Jetson is an outstanding diversity and inclusion champion in the industry, taking out last year’s Women in Mining Victoria Diversity Champion Award. He was also welcomed as a Pay Equity Ambassador by the WGEA, which continues St Barbara’s legacy of equality. Previous Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Bob Vassie, was an initial signatory to the Pay Equity Pledge.
St Barbara has significantly reduced the overall pay equity gap since 2007 as a result of changes in gender composition, and for many years has maintained a nil gender pay gap in like-for-like roles.