Over recent years, gold mining companies across Australia have embarked on a remarkable journey towards fostering gender diversity and inclusivity within their ranks - a move that reflects both the industry's evolution and its profound commitment to change.
One of those companies is Gold Road Resources - an Australian gold producer and explorer with a Tier 1 mine and exploration projects across Western Australia, South Australia, and Queensland covering more than 14,000 square kilometres.
Recently, as part of its commitment to achieving gender diversity, the company signed up to 40:40 Vision to help get more women into leadership roles.
The 40:40 Vision project aims to achieve structural change within Australia, by encouraging ASX300 companies to set medium and long-term targets for their executive leadership teams, with a pledge to achieve gender balance by 2030.
Gold Road Resources General Manager of People and Culture Jessica Logan said the company was on the right path and had already made great progress.
“Gold Road has long recognised the business and social importance of achieving gender diversity and believe that we have waited long enough to see the change needed,“ she said.
“Participating in the 40:40 Vision is a way of furthering this commitment and ensuring we hold ourselves accountable to these targets and are transparent about our progress.”
The company takes great pride in exceeding industry standards, already with 34% female employees, surpassing the industry average.
As part of this new commitment, Gold Road Resources is putting in place plans to drive and embed further change across the company. This will include:
Pledging to achieve gender balance (40:40:20) in executive leadership by 2030 (which it achieved in February 2023)
Declaring medium and long-term gender targets
Making plans public to employees, shareholders, investors, and the wider business community
Reporting annually on how the company is tracking against targets.
And it’s fantastic to see Gold Road’s achievements so far:
52% of new hires in 2023 were women
22% of new hires in 2023 were Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
34% of the workforce are women
53% of the Perth Head Office personnel are women
8% of the entire workforce is Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
40% of the executive leadership team are women
It’s clear that the 40:40 Vision pledge compliments the company’s existing core values and culture; one that prioritises the health, safety, and well-being of every team member and fosters an inclusive workplace that empowers its people to excel and drive positive change.