The awards, run by the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia (CME), recognise exceptional women working in the sector, as well as the individuals and companies who champion gender diversity and work hard to improve the participation of women in resources.
CME chief executive Paul Everingham said this year’s finalists were selected from more than 70 nominations across five categories and represented a broad range of roles from within the resources sector.
“Since we held the first WIRA ten years ago, the event keeps growing every year, which reflects the increasing importance companies are placing on gender diversity within the workplace,” he said.
“The high standard of entries in this year’s awards has resulted in an extremely competitive awards process. All finalists are leaders in their field who champion the achievements of women and work to improve the participation of women in the workforce.”
The 2019 finalists
Women in Resources Champion
- Cordia Johnson, Wheatstone Onslow Facilities Engineering Team Lead, Chevron Australia
- Graham Kerr, Chief Executive Officer, South32
- Michael Parker, Chairman and Managing Director, Alcoa of Australia
Outstanding Company Initiative
- Alcoa of Australia – Catalysts for Change
- BHP – Inclusion, it’s for everybody
- Woodside Energy – Employee Gender Equality Communities
Outstanding Woman in Resources
- Laura Hayman, Specialist Data Engineer, Rio Tinto
- Fiona Hick, Vice President of Health, Safety, Environment and Quality, Woodside Energy
- Rowena Smith, Chief Sustainability Officer, South32
Outstanding Young Woman in Resources
- Sarah Loh, Production Forecast Opportunity Manager, Woodside Energy
- Meredith Prior, Commercial Operations Manager, Shell Australia
- April Scott, Autonomous Haulage System Control Superintendent, Fortescue Metals Group Pty Ltd
Outstanding Operator/Technician/Trade Woman in Resources
- Stephanie Allan, Operations Technician – INLEC, Chevron Australia
- Jenny Knight, Process Technician – Furnace, BHP
- Donna Stace, Maintenance Supervisor, Rio Tinto
Sponsors for this year’s event are BHP, Chevron (Platinum); Northern Minerals, South32 (Gold); Evolution Mining, Inpex, Shell Australia, St Barbara, Thiess, Woodside (Silver); Alcoa of Australia (Career Development); and Rio Tinto (Regional).
Winners will be announced at the Women in Resources Awards presentation dinner event to be held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre on Friday 15 March, which will be again hosted by Annabel Crabb.
The winners will go on to represent Western Australia as finalists in the 2019 Women in Resources National Awards, hosted by the NSW Minerals Council in Sydney.