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Women Take the Wheel helps beat skills shortage

Women Take the Wheel praised as a key plank in helping the trucking industry address skills shortages

June 1, 2011

Queensland Transport Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk has praised the Women Take the Wheel initiative as a key plank in helping the trucking industry address skills shortages.

Following the recent recognition of the program during the 2011 Trucking Industry Awards, Palaszczuk says it is helping businesses recruit women and become leaders in equal opportunity employment.

A partnership between waste management company JJ Richards & Sons, Mission Australia, Strategix Training Group and the Department of Transport and Main Roads, the pilot program helped 19 women obtain a HR licence and achieve a Certificate III in Transport and Logistics (Driving Operations).

Nine of the participants have since gained work with JJ Richards.

“The program aims to create pathways to promote careers in the industry, while still retaining and engaging current female employees and supporting the industry through practical guidance and resources,” Palaszczuk says.

“This partnership is evidence of government, industry and not-for-profit organisations all working together to address skill shortages and provide employment outcomes, which enables industry to get on with the important task of connecting Queensland.”

The program received the Training Excellence Award at the Trucking Industry Awards for encouraging women to pursue a career in a male-dominated industry.

Palaszczuk says women hold only about 23 percent of roles in the trucking industry, of which most are limited to administration, human resources and finance.

“As a result of the success of the pilot program, several other businesses across different sectors within the industry have expressed interest in participating in the next Women Take the Wheel program,” she says.

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