BHP president Australia Geraldine Slattery emphasised the need for Australia’s resources sector to adopt a competitive mindset during her address at the Melbourne Mining Club this week.
“Today, we find ourselves in the energy transition – one of the great industrial shifts in history,” Slattery said. “All of us here know that shift will not occur without the minerals Australia provides.”
Slattery cautioned that Australia cannot take its history for granted, highlighting challenges in skills availability, technology adoption and global investment appeal.
Speaking about the importance of addressing structural challenges in labour, Slattery noted that nearly half of the global skilled engineering workforce will retire in the next decade.
“We know that we do not have enough graduates in mining related fields to replace them,” she said.
The BHP Australia president said one solution would be to expand the workforce participation, highlighting the importance of the entire industry working to be more diverse and inclusive.
“BHP has progressively increased gender diversity, women now make up over 37 per cent of our employee workforce globally,” Slattery said.
“[This is] a figure that’s more than doubled since we set our gender balance aspiration back in 2016.”
Slattery said BHP has invested in education and training pathways to make this milestone possible, introducing policies to level the playing field in equity and caring responsibilities, and working with regional communities to solve childcare availability.
On technology, Slattery called for enhanced research and design efforts, pointing out that Australia ranks 23rd globally in innovation and 20th in digital readiness.
“The AI (artificial intelligence) boom is a mining boom too,” she said, urging the industry to lead in adopting next-generation technologies to improve exploration and sustainability.
Slattery also urged reforms to streamline permitting processes, citing inefficiencies that delay major projects.
“In 2020, the Samuel review found that complex resource-sector projects can take over 1000 days to assess and approve,” she said. “Time to market matters.”
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