Gender Diversity

Gender equity within an organisation makes good business sense and benefits all employees – both women and men. Diverse and inclusive organisations show greater staff retention, better performance and faster growth. They are able to recruit from a wider pool of potential employees, have improved employee mental health outcomes and tend to have better reputations within the community.

Increasing the participation of women in the Tasmanian forest industry requires change – at the organisational and at the individual level. These changes might be big or small, occasional or consistent, and might be targeted or across the board. Leadership within an organisation is key to gender equality, along with inclusive recruitment practices.

Tradeswomen Australia’s Workforce Diversity Project provides free diversity and inclusion training and resources for Tasmanian forest industry workplace leaders and supervisors. Find out how to participate in this project here.

Articles + Information

• Better Together: Increasing Male Engagement in Gender Equality Efforts in Australia – Given their predominance in leadership positions, it is critical to ensure that men have an equal stake in gender parity.
• Women in Construction Australia: What Barriers do They Face? – Whilst this has a construction focus, the barriers outlined are universal across traditional male industries.
• Changing Perceptions of Women in the Workplace – Changing the way women are viewed will involve a big cultural shift in how we perceive gender and work.
• Listening to Women’s Voices in The Australian Forestry Workforce (2001) – This qualitative research was undertaken in 2001 based on women’s perceptions of their workplace, professional practice and aspirations and attempts to understand the diversity of issues faced by female forester

Case Studies

• Construction Company Tackles Gender Pay Gap
• Effectively engaging bystanders on sexism and sexual harassment at Aurecon
• Creating a nation-leading and inclusive parental leave policy at Smartgroup

Tools + Tips

• Respect@Work has a comprehensive set of resources to support organisations and individuals to better understand, prevent and address workplace sexual harassment.
• Tradeswomen Australia is supporting women to succeed in Tasmanian through supporting employers to recruit women by providing training, mentoring, resources and support for employers.
• Tradeswomen Inclusive Networking Guide – includes strategies for inclusive networking events.
• Walk a Mile: A Quiz for Inclusive Leaders – is an activity designed to highlight how we each may, unknowingly, have certain advantages over others in the workplace and in society.
• 7 Tips to Improve Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Small Businesses
• Diversity and Inclusion in a Small Workplace
• Workplace Gender Equality Agency – an organisation promoting and improving gender equality in the workplace.
• DCA Words at Work – Building inclusion through the power of inclusive language