Page 55 - Defence Industry Guide #57

ADM’s Defence Industry Guide 2023 | Edition 57 | www.defencesuppliers.com.au
BESIX 55
COMBATTING THE UNDER- REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN DEFENCE CONSTRUCTION
BY BESIX WATPAC
MULTIDISCIPLINARY construction contractor BESIX Watpac is commit- ted to supporting career pathways for women through the projects it delivers across all sectors including Defence.
In the last 12 months, the company has seen a two per cent increase in female employees now 19 per cent of the total workforce, and 10 per cent in non-traditional roles.
As a construction contractor to De- fence with multiple projects underway throughout Australia and targeting more in the pipeline, BESIX Watpac’s focus on diversity extends to the De- fence projects it delivers.
A case study for this is the recently completed Singleton Mid-Term Re- fresh project BESIX Watpac delivered for Defence. Scope included remedia- tion of critical base infrastructure as well as building or refur-
as eliminated operational impacts within the live base.
Maintaining operations of the base was the single most critical factor. Tracey achieved this by forging strong, honest and highly engaged relation- ships with the Client and wider base community.
“I have worked on many large and complex projects throughout regional New South Wales over the last 25 years and have brought to every proj- ect a fundamental belief that relation- ships are the foundation of successful project outcomes,” Tracey said.
“Working around the operational environment of a base is challenging and requires a very high level of collab- oration as well as a thorough approach to planning and coordination of works around base operations. I’m especially
ABOVE: Tracey is a finalist at the NSW Regional Woman of the Year Award with the National Association of Women in Construction for her continued demonstration of leadership qualities and commitment to promoting regional skills. Image: Supplied
en in the construction industry and throughout her time delivering De- fence projects has taken the oppor- tunity to inspire women to consider a career in non-traditional sectors.
“I’ve visited schools in regional New South Wales as well as mentored the up-and-coming generation on the Sin- gleton project to help young women explore their career options,” she said.
“It is extremely rewarding to support women carving out a path in a tradi- tionally male-dominated industry.”
Tracey is a finalist at the NSW Re- gional Woman of the Year Award with the National Association of Women in Construction for her continued demonstration of leadership quali- ties and commitment to promoting regional skills. ■
bishing supporting logis-
ticsbuildingswithinthe “I’VEVISITEDSCHOOLS
proud to have managed this aspect of the Sin- gleton project, which had many complicated services outages, with no disruptions to the base.”
Singleton Military Train- ing Area and Lone Pine Barracks.
IN REGIONAL NEW SOUTH WALES AS WELL AS
Newcastle local and MENTOREDTHEUP-AND-
BESIX Watpac employee COMING GENERATION ON Her regional and
Tracey Medley joined the THE SINGLETON PROJECT Singleton team as Project
Engineer in mid-2020. TO HELP YOUNG WOMEN Tracey has been respon-
sible for planning, coor-
dination and execution of
the design, quality assur-
ance, workplace health
and safety, and environmental compo- nents as well as the critical handover/ takeover process.
With a combined education in civil engineering, background in trades and experience on Defence projects, Trac- ey led many initiatives that improved safety throughout construction as well
EXPLORE THEIR CAREER OPTIONS,”
project experience also led to the early identi- fication of non-docu- mented inground ser- vices, addressing these immediately and avoid- ing significant project delays.
Tracey’s natural leadership skills and ability to bring out the best in people both individually and as part of a team directly influenced project out- puts and was a significant contributor to the team delivering a high-quality product on time and within budget.
Tracey is driving change for wom-