The API is committed to the international Equal by 30 campaign to advance the participation of women in the clean energy transition and to close the gender gap.

 

ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN

The Equal by 30 campaign is part of the Clean Energy, Education and Empowerment Initiative (C3E), which works to advance the participation of women in the clean energy transition, and close the gender gap.  It is a joint Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) and International Energy Agency (IEA) initiative.

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Equal by 30 is a public commitment by public and private sector organizations to work towards equal pay, equal leadership and equal opportunities for women in the clean energy sector by 2030.

Equal by 30 asks organisations, companies and governments to endorse principles, then take concrete action to accelerate the participation of women in the clean energy sector, and close the gender gap.

 

 

The API's high level commitments:

​The API’s high level commitment is to the generic “Private sector principles”, with additional elements aligned with our role as a member organisation:

1. We aim to lead by example, integrating equality principles into our organization and policies, and will step up our efforts to promote gender diversity activities, in areas of recruitment and career advancement in particular (and promoting the same actions within the API membership community and broader power sector).

2. We pledge to highlight and support women, and close the gender gap, by promoting actions in our business (and promoting the same actions within the API membership community and broader power sector)

3. We will provide leadership, and share our experiences and lessons learned on gender diversity programming and initiatives (and coordinate sharing within the API membership community and broader power sector)

4. We recognize the importance of reporting on progress and will support efforts to improve the collection of gender disaggregated data so that we can and report on our progress in a transparent, open manner.

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API's support for the Australian Government's commitments:

API is also well positioned to support the Australian Government’s commitments:

 

The Australian Government will:

1. Create an Australian Women in Energy Roundtable for industry to promote and share equality initiatives and policies which accelerate the participation of women in the clean energy workforce (API has expressed interest in and been invited to be part of Roundtable when it is formed)

2. Promote gender balance in the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) leadership roles by June 2023 to align with the Australian Public Service’s Gender Equality Strategy 2021-26. (API will promote gender balance in the leadership roles of our member organisations and provide support and resources to support development of women in leadership in the power sector)

3. Drive practical actions towards equality-based policies within industry by sharing and promoting Australian Public Service flexible workplace arrangements aimed at closing both the gender balance and gender pay gap. (API will coordinate and support sharing of resources from the APS into API member organisations, and similarly sharing of lessons between API members and into the knowledge pool developed by the APS).

4. Work across government agencies to build a Women in Energy Resources Hub. The Hub will include sample guidelines and procedures, providing small-medium enterprises the opportunity to identify relevant and meaningful actions for the achievement of gender equality within their workforce. (API will contribute the resources we develop into the Hub and support our members to engage with the resources and their implementation within the API member community).

5. Expand engagement across domestic and international forums within the energy sector by championing diversity and gender equality matters. (API will do continue with our programs that support this, including the Powerful Women Leadership Program and our Powered by Diversity campaign).

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API's detailed commitments to activity that leads to impacts and outcomes:

We already have activities and processes in place to support our high level commitments, but we won't be resting here - we are working on the following additional actions:

1. Continue our existing diversity initiatives and outreach campaigns that support and promote career opportunities for all in the Australian power sector including our Powerful Women Leadership Program, our Careers portal featuring a diverse portfolio of women in technical roles across the power sector, our undergrad scholarship program (40% female), and our support for UQ's Women in Engineering program and the national university collaboration workshop in women in engineering,

2. API to build a map of diversity initiatives by our member organisations (and universities)

3. Develop and distribute promotional materials to undergrads students, to universities, to the public and high schools highlighting the importance of diversity in the power sector workforce

4. Actively engage with universities on developing culture in engineering programs that values diversity in our workforce (based on feedback from female engineering students in the PWLP program)

5. Capture data on diversity in key segments of the power sector workforce and contribute to projects – such as the Australian Energy and Employment Report – that capture data more broadly for diversity in the power sector workforce.

6. Project Energise (our volunteer ambassadors in Schools program) to include details of the value of diversity and to actively encourage ambassadors to engage diverse audiences and to share diverse stories of people and projects in the power sector

7. explore a national campaign promoting the value of diversity, inclusion and equality in the power sector workforce 

8. Engage the power sector's academic and tertiary education community (APEC) and connect to stakeholders such as 'women in engineering' teams across the university sector 

9. API member forums to share best practices, identify common issues and solutions.

10. API to initiate actions - such as Powerful Women Leadership Program and Powered by Diversity lunch - to support members and the sector to enhance diversity.

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