Women in Emergency Services

ESA’s Women in Emergency Services Strategy – A Pathway to a Diverse & Inclusive Workforce [PDF 804 KB] was launched by the Minister for Police and Emergency Services on 4 December 2015.

The strategy was developed following significant consultation undertaken throughout 2014 and 2015 with women and men in ESA and external engagement with emergency services in NSW and Victoria, along with other professions such as ACT Policing and the Australian Defence Force.

The strategy outlines gender participation rates in each of the four ACT emergency services as at 30 June 2015 and highlights a range of initiatives to increase and develop women in our emergency services which includes:

• training our staff to be aware of gender bias and stereotyping;
• identifying potential barriers to an inclusive and diverse workforce and developing initiatives that reduce or eliminate their impact on women;
• developing targets where needed, and implementing access and equity or equal employment opportunity programs to meet them;
• improving conflict resolution and complaint handling processes;
• activities and initiatives to promote compliance with anti-discrimination legislation;
• reviewing our employment frameworks and their application to reflect contemporary workplaces; and
• annual reporting on our progress.

The ESA Executive will be responsible for implementing the strategy and reporting against key outputs outlined in the Strategies’ Women in Emergency Services Strategy – Action Framework [PDF 453 KB] as part of ESA’s 5 year Strategic Plan.

Women in Emergency Services Strategy [PDF 804 KB]