myEnergy
This International Women’s Day, the United Nations theme is: Invest in Women. Accelerate Progress.
We’re investing for the future – ensuring diversity in field and trade roles; through the provision of apprenticeships, graduates and scholarship programs to support both.
According to the recent Workplace Gender Equality Agency gender pay gap report, Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services is one of four male dominated industries.
We’re committed to supporting women and gender diverse people to explore the varied and exciting opportunities that a career in power provides to build improved gender balance in our industry.
How are we tracking?
As part of our Inclusion and Diversity Strategy 2021–2024, one of our key areas of focus is eliminating gender as a barrier to career opportunities and advancement.
This is reflected in our current gender equality targets:
| Women employed | Women in management | |||
| Company | 2026 target | 2023 (31 Dec) | 2026 target | 2023 (31 Dec) |
| VPN | 25% | 22% | 22% | 23% |
Scholarships
Developed in association with leading universities, our Women in Engineering Scholarship programs include financial assistance, 12 weeks of paid work experience, a personal mentor and participants are automatically shortlisted to interview as a candidate for our graduate engineering program.
“I discovered the Powercor Women in Engineering Scholarship and thought that the benefits it provided, including the mentoring and work experience opportunities, would provide a great starting point for my career. In university all the classes are still male dominated. That’s not to say there aren’t women, there are quite a few now but definitely less then there should be. I’ve always enjoyed maths and sciences. There’s more promotion to encourage women to work in these industries, I’m very grateful for that and I’m looking forward to seeing more change.”
Our Women’s Pre Apprenticeship scholarship is offered to women and gender diverse people undertaking a Pre Apprenticeship TAFE Cert II in Electrotechnology course. The scholarship supports students interested in building a career in the electrical industry with financial support that can be used to cover costs such as school fees, tools, PPE, clothing, rent, childcare or to supplement an income whilst attending the course.
Apprenticeships and traineeships
We’re thrilled to see growing gender diversity in our apprenticeships and traineeships with eight women joining us across the state this year – our highest female intake to date.
"My dad is a CPL - Lineworker at Powercor and I grew up wanting to do the same job. Initially I didn't think it was possible because I never saw any women in the field. As I got older I noticed there were a lot more opportunities being created for female apprentices and decided I wanted to be a Cable jointer because I liked how technical it is. The experience so far has been amazing and far better than I expected."
Graduate program
We strive not only to attract the best and brightest graduates from a range of disciplines such as engineering, IT, business, commerce, economics, science, the arts and social sciences but to achieve gender balance in our annual Graduate program intake.
It’s not just us that thinks our program is great, we’ve again been listed as one of Australia’s Top Graduate Employers for 2024 by the Australia Association of Graduate Employers.
We’ve developed a comprehensive program which offers a high level of support, skills development, and career advancement.
“As a graduate, I saw an opportunity to contribute to an essential sector while challenging gender norms and breaking barriers for women in STEM fields. I've witnessed gradual but significant changes within the industry over the years —a gradual but promising movement towards greater inclusion and diversity. There's been a growing recognition of the value that diverse perspectives bring, including those of women, to innovation and problem-solving. I'm proud to be part of this change and to inspire other women to pursue their passions fearlessly, regardless of the obstacles they may face.”
That’s not all!
We’re excited to be celebrating our third year of endorsement in 2024 with WORK180.
Our commitment to helping all women thrive in the workplace also includes initiatives such as our annual gender pay equity review, inclusive and anti-discriminatory culture, Women in Power network, a generous gender neutral parental leave policy, flexible working options, career development opportunities, and our extensive health and wellbeing program.
