Forestry investing in women to accelerate progress
Forestry Corporation is honouring the significant contribution that women make in the forestry industry.
Friday, March 8, marks International Women’s Day, this year carrying the theme of Count Her In: Invest in Women. Accelerate Progress.
As a major player in Australian forestry – a traditionally male-dominated industry - Forestry Corporation stands proud of its gender equality in the workplace.
Women currently make up a quarter of the workforce with many female leaders in management roles standing at the forefront of the industry.
Forestry Corporation’s Talent & OD Business Partner Amba Addinsall said there has been a marked increase in female representation in Forestry Corporation’s executive and leadership teams.
“Our executive leadership team has hit gender parity for the first time ever and 24 per cent of our senior leaders are now women,” Ms Addinsall said.
“This is an increase of four per cent over two years and really celebrates the calibre of women that we have in the workplace.”
“They are creating more inclusive teams and are role modelling what’s possible for our newer recruits.”
Some of the women across Forestry Corporation have shared their thoughts and experiences for International Women’s Day giving an insight into their careers:
Kirrily Oliver, Harvesting Supervisor, Bathurst:
“My daily role involves supervising our harvesting contractors, making sure they stick to the outlines, processes and safety and environmental guidelines set for production in the field.
This involves daily checks in the field with many kilometres travelled daily across our beautiful forests. Aside from our daily roles, we are also fully trained and certified firefighters when required working to protect our teammates and our great assets - our forests.
I was stuck in typical office-based roles for nearly 20 years and one day thought what else could I be doing in my life in my early 40’s. Until I started working in the role, I never knew how much went into the business regarding how in-depth the management of forests is and the huge amount of work that goes into the renewable side of the business, through to how everyone is welcomed as part of the broader teams, male or female. I am generally looking forward to starting Certificate III in Forestry Operations through TAFE. I feel this will broaden my knowledge within the corporation and hopefully give me a long career within Forestry as women make the same contribution in Forestry daily. We are all equal and do a fabulous job in our roles within the industry.”
Meg Clery: Field Ecologist, Eden:
“I have been a Field Ecologist with Forestry Corporation for three years. Previously, I worked as a Ranger with National Parks and Wildlife for eight years. I've always loved working outdoors in forests.
As an ecologist I hold a strong interest in animals.
Outside of my field work, I have a hobby of bird watching and painting birds. Mostly everything I do is animal or nature related. I love working in beautiful forests where there is so much biodiversity.
My field work takes me from the coast up into the tablelands and I enjoy being part of Forestry’s moves to increase its environmental credentials. The variety of work as an ecologist is amazing from fauna monitoring of small mammals, birds, frogs to floral surveys in being able to find beautiful orchids growing in nature. We also do night work, a lot of camera trapping studies spending a lot of time analysing interactions and images of animals and surveying threatened species.
Generally, the ecology team is female-dominant in forestry across the state and I guess that comes down to women finding the attraction of studying animals.”
Kristen Coady: Land Access Officer, Dubbo:
“A career in forestry is more than just trees and timber. Our forests have a wide range of social, ecological and cultural values and women have a huge role to play in the promotion and protection of these values and our natural assets. Women in forestry are hardworking and supportive of each other and passionate about the sustainability of the forests that we manage.
My role as a Land Access Officer involves facilitating community use of our forests for many purposes including research, grazing, active and passive recreation and also pest and weed management across the cypress forests of Western NSW.
I wanted a career that allowed me to spend time in the bush while also putting my environmental science degree and previous business experience to use. This job is the perfect balance and I encourage other women with similar interests to consider a career in forestry.
Madi Stewardson: Harvest Planner, Batemans Bay:
“For me, International Women's Day is a chance to reflect on the contributions of the past female figures that have inspired me to be where I am today. I work as a Harvest Planner in Batemans Bay, bringing together the working parts of a harvesting operation to see the forest utilised for wood product whilst maintaining its ecological, social, and cultural values.
Having recently graduated with a Master of Research, Forestry has offered me a unique opportunity to further my practical skills whilst fostering a sense of custodianship to my patch.
I place a high importance on the resilience a diverse team of people creates and look forward to the heights we may be able to achieve through gender parity.”
Elissa Bond, Spatial Systems Coordinator, Snowy Region:
“I’ve always found there has been gender equality in Forestry. I have been with the organisation for 12 years and in that time there has been a definite trend of more females taking on all roles from field-based to supervisor and onto the more senior roles.
As an example, here in the Tumut Forest Resources team we have four females and five males. It’s a great workplace gender balance. I see more and more women applying for roles within the business and I think there’s strong equal standing in the organisation.
Everyone in this workplace has flexibility when it comes to their home life and parental duties, which is so important for working mums and dads. There’s a real family focus within Forestry and that’s why it’s such a great place to work.”
Zalinda Garner: Administration Assistant, Tumut:
"My daily role involves purchasing, maintaining stocks of products to meet the office and business unit’s requirements and needs.
I also perform payroll and job costing by collating and checking costings of timesheets for the payroll department, ensuring all field workers leave forms and medical certificates are attached to personnel files. My job involves keeping records and information management by conducting accurate and speedy data entry of all appropriate information into the two electronic filing systems and distribute documents to relevant staff. Another major part of my job is just general administration such as creating and receipting purchase orders, forwarding invoices on AP, providing telephone support to the public, booking accommodation, flights, and hire-cars for employee work-related travel and organising facilities and venues as required by staff.
When I saw the position advertised the thing that intrigued me was the range of tasks and duties that were required, meaning everyday was different and no day was the same. I previously worked in a local government job where every day was the same.
Since I have been at Forestry every day has been different, which is why I love to work here."
Find out more about Forestry Corporation at www.forestrycorporation.com.au
Media contact: Matt Deans 0400 066 237