Driving Gender Equity at Transport

Calling all people of Transport: share your experiences of hashtag#COVID-19. Help paint the picture of how Australia's families are adapting to the pandemic. Tell us how the pandemic has affected your life, your family, your relationships. Make your voice count. Do the survey today! hashtag#FamiliesinAustraliaSurvey hashtag#families hashtag#family hashtag#coronavirus hashtag#survey hashtag#research hashtag#COVID19

This year, the Transport Digital Accelerator is running the Safety After Dark Innovation Challenge, an initiative focused on safety for women travelling in Sydney at night. The Innovation Challenge is a call to start-ups and innovators to collaborate with Transport for NSW. Safety After Dark will open its doors to the start-up community to partner on finding ways to create a city with safer mobility for women at night. At the launch event, participants received a defined challenge statement and everything they need to apply, including knowledge and awareness of key challenges and opportunities.

Learn about the challenge, what’s on offer, and how you can be involved by contacting the Digital Accelerator.

This year, we’ve welcomed over 100 new graduates, cadets and scholars from disciplines such as business, information technology and engineering – our next generation of innovative thinkers, problem solvers and game-changers. Check out the video to meet our diverse group of new recruits and find out what our entry level programs are all about.

Join our fourth and final webinar in our Flex Empowerment Series on avoiding the Flextraps: How to 'nudge the grudge' in flexible working tomorrow, Thursday 30 April at 10am – 10:45am. You can register here for the session. You’ll learn about why workplace grudges or barriers manifest in virtual and flexible teams, and practical strategies for overcoming them to optimise performance outcomes. Be quick to register! You can also watch all the playbacks of all webinars on Stay Informed.

​

Across Transport, we’ve been holding events to support International Women’s Day (IWD) and discuss what we – both as individuals and as an organisation – need to do to forge a gender equal world.

On 5 March, around 700 of our people attended a Transport IWD event at the International Convention Centre for a stimulating morning of networking, keynote addresses, videos and discussions.

The event included an engaging presentation from Australian journalist and author, Annabel Crabb, who argued that gender equity cannot be achieved until men are as free to leave the workplace (when their lives demand it) as women are to enter it. Find out more in her Quarterly Essay.

See the highlights … and spread the word

Watch the videos from the Sydney event, reflect on what their messages mean for you, and share them with your colleagues across Transport.

See all the colour and energy of the event, summed up in 90 seconds.

We've got incredible women doing incredible things, right across Transport.

Kirsten Watson, our Chief People Officer, talks about our Executive leadership team’s commitment to gender equality, about the progress we’ve made at Transport on equality and inclusion, and our priorities for the future.

Peter Church, Head of Rail Delivery hosts a panel discussion with Tara McCarthy, Deputy Secretary for Safety Environment and Regulation, John Dinan, Executive Director of Community and Place with Regional and Outer Metropolitan, and Samiha Najem, Associate Director for System Integrity at Sydney Trains.

Secretary, Rodd Staples, closes the event with a personal reflection about the value of listening to the insights of women at Transport as part of his role in the Male Champions of Change Program, and a call to action to everyone to speak up to support change.

Four incredible women share their stories about what it’s like to be a woman working at Transport.

Related links

Donate to Empower Hour and change a woman's life.

Join the WiSE Network to support women working in STEMC.

Meet some more incredible Transport women.

Sherri Fields is the Principal Manager Research and Investigation in Customer Strategy and Technology. She recently received the award of Fellow of the University of Technology (UTS). This award is in recognition of Sherri’s outstanding contributions to planning and communications in public service, especially transportation, and her contribution in developing a more transparent research environment.

We spoke to Sherri to get to know her and her achievements a little better.

What do you do at Transport?

I lead a highly engaged and committed team that manages the Research Hub – aimed at improving research collaborations and partnerships between TfNSW and the university sector.

As a team, we work with Transport subject matter experts (SMEs) to develop Problem Statements, which are then put on our Research Hub for academics to respond to. Some current projects include mobility as a service, place-making, optimising signalised intersections, and improving workplace flexibility.

What's your proudest moment?

Launching the Research Hub to 150+ academics in June 2018 was a big career highlight. Since then, I have watched our interactions, both internally and externally, develop into meaningful relationships, partnerships and projects.

And of course another proud moment was being awarded Honorary Fellow of UTS in 2020.

What advice do you have for other women who are looking to progress their careers in Transport?

Don’t be afraid to extend yourself into areas you feel are beyond you. For me, it was the UTS Industry Advisory Boards where I learnt so much and established many great relationships.

How do you ensure a good work/life balance?

I try to weave interesting activities into my evenings, like being involved in a long-running Book Club, dinners with friends and spending time with my family.

Tell us something that people may not know about you?

I’m a country girl from Keerrong, a town between Nimbin and Lismore. I have 4 children at various life stages – a daughter studying at UTS, and three sons in years 4, 10 and 12. They keep me happy, busy and grounded. I also enjoy swimming with the Drummoyne Swim Club.

Congratulations to Sherri on her award!

Jenni Andrews is the Operational Training Manager at State Transit and she believes that passion leads to opportunities.

We spoke to Jenni to get to know her a little better.

What do you do at Transport?

I lead a team of facilitators, coordinators, driver capability trainers and driver coaches who are collaboratively building the skills, knowledge and capabilities of bus operators at State Transit.

What’s your proudest moment?

Launching the new Operational Training team in 2019 and then seeing the development of the team and their individual capabilities. Now we’ve been a team for over 12 months and I can see the difference they make to the trainees’ experience working for State Transit, each and every day.

What advice do you have for women who are looking to progress their careers in Transport?

Find what motivates and drives you. I love working in the learning environment and people notice when you have a passion for what you do. Passion leads to opportunities and I look forward to many more in the future.

How do you ensure a good work/life balance?

I’m still working on that one but having a flexible working arrangement makes it easier. Working in an operational environment and with two small girls, a husband and a puppy dog - life is busy! I try to make sure that when I am at home with my family they get all my attention. I also try and make time for me by going to the gym or taking a walk.

Tell us something people may not know about you?

I love musicals and see just about every one that comes to Sydney or Melbourne. This love sometimes turns to obsession - I’ve seen Wicked 10 times in three countries!

Muriel Demarcus, is the Commercial Director for a line-wide implementation group for the Sydney Metro, City & Southwest. She lives by the motto: Just do it!

We spoke to Muriel to get to know her a little better.

What do you do at Transport?

My team and I are transforming a tunnel into a railway as part of the City & Southwest project, which is a $1.5 billion piece of work. I lead a highly engaged and agile team that manages all aspects, from cost control to collaboration with other contractors and third parties.

What's your proudest moment?

At one point our contractor couldn’t order the rail for the train maintenance on time due to difficulties with the supply chain. The team had to step in and order the rail through an existing arrangement with Sydney Trains. This was, to me, collaboration at its best.

What advice do you have for other women who are looking to progress their careers in Transport?

Just do it! We women have a tendency to undersell ourselves. To me, it’s all about taking risks, exploring new opportunities and continuing to deliver.

How do you ensure a good work/life balance?

Running is my therapy. I’m always training for an ultramarathon, even if this means having to wake up at the crack of dawn. I also like spending time with my two daughters, and I have found the teenage years to be more challenging than expected!

Tell us something people may not know about you?

I am a non-exec for the Royal Rehab Hospital Foundation and I used to be a National Liaison Officer for the Sydney Invictus Games. I spend a lot of time with people who’ve rebuilt their lives after horrific injuries and traumatic events. I admire them for their resilience and I will help them in any way I can.

Sherrie Killiby is the Director of Digital Customer Information Services. She’s also a State finalist in the 2020 Telstra Women’s Business Awards , Public Sector and Academia category.

We spoke to Sherrie to get to know her a little better.

What do you do at Transport?

I lead a team of around 70 people to deliver and operate Transport’s digital trip planning products like transportnsw.info , Opal Travel app and the Transport Bot .

What's your proudest moments?

Presenting the work of the Digital Customer Information Services team to others. I’m fortunate that I get to do this often, demonstrating the many ways you can get all the information you need to use the NSW public transport network.

What advice do you have for other women who are looking to progress their careers in Transport?

Be transparent, communicate well, back your ideas and recommendations with insights and research, always be prepared and have confidence in your abilities.

How do you ensure a good work/life balance?

It’s something that you need to continually work on creating, it doesn’t happen without conscious effort. And that conscious effort is rewarding for both your work and non-work time.

Tell us something that people may not know about you?

When I’m not at work, I’m a soccer mum and a dance mum.