This year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) theme Balance for Better has the full support of Coliban Water and its first female Chairperson.
Lucy Roffey joined the Coliban Water Board in 2015 and was appointed Chairperson in 2017.
Ms Roffey is an avid supporter of IWD and said this year’s Balance for Better theme, which seeks to forge a more gender-balanced world, celebrate women’s achievement, raise awareness against bias and take action for equality, was fitting.
“Women need to get better at putting themselves forward for opportunities and senior roles,” said Ms Roffey.
“Some women discount their abilities early on and think, ‘I don’t tick absolutely every single box for that role so I won’t apply’. It’s important we give ourselves a chance and be confident about our skill set.”
Ms Roffey said in a Board or formal meeting environment, females often bring differing points of view to a discussion that create robust and healthy conversation.
“At Coliban Water, we have a continued focus on gender equity, with females in our workforce increasing in the last year from 38 per cent to 41 per cent.
“Our 10-person Leadership Team is comprised of an equal representation of males and females and we continue to implement our Diversity and Inclusion Policy and Action Plan.
“One of the areas we continue to work on is the representation of females within engineering-related careers at Coliban Water. At present, females are outnumbered in engineering roles by approximately four to one,” Ms Roffey said.
For the Coliban Water Board, Ms Roffey said achieving gender balance was something members were keenly aware of and had completed unconscious bias training.
“The training helps a person to become aware of how they may be biased when involved in recruiting for a job and also through job descriptions. In some cases, this can be gender bias.”
Ms Roffey is currently Chief Executive Officer of Central Goldfields Shire Council. She was previously Chief Executive Officer of Buloke Shire Council and has held other executive roles in Local and State Government.
Last updated on 10 Jul 2019