Sisters in Maintenance - Creating Indigenous employment pathways

To support our ongoing commitment to increasing Indigenous representation in the workforce, Thiess and MACA have put several initiatives in place to support Indigenous people to enter the mining sector.

Sisters in Maintenance
Following the success of Thiess’ Sisters in Mining program, which has run for over 10 years, in March 2023, Thiess introduced the Sisters in Maintenance program. This program aims to support Indigenous women to transition into the mining sector and to address significant shortages in maintenance workers. The pre-apprenticeship program provides Indigenous women a pathway to pursue trade roles and long-term employment opportunities in the sector.

The ‘Sisters’ are coached by experienced tradespeople and receive further support from dedicated Aboriginal support officers from the local TAFE. At the completion of the 12-month pre-apprenticeship traineeship program candidates are awarded a Certificate II in Engineering and considered for a full-time apprenticeship or other roles of interest.

Three women participated in the program in 2023 with one graduate progressing to begin an apprenticeship. The Sisters program will also run in 2024.