The Institute of Quarrying Australia (IQA) Women in Quarrying Luncheon

The VIC Branch Women in Quarrying Lunch & Site Tour was held on Friday 21st June. Mawsons attendees included Cathy Moon (L&D Group Manager), Suz Gundry (HR Advisor), Erin Potter (Technical Laboratory Assistant) and Amber Mustey (Weighbridge Clerk Lake Cooper).

We were given a site tour of Boral Montrose Quarry by the current female Quarry Manager (followed by a presentation from guest speaker Tegan Smith who spoke on the topic of “Changing Perceptions”. She is a former director of Groundwork Plus, acquired by SLR Consulting in January 2024 and has over 20 years’ experience in the quarrying, land use and development sectors. Tegan is well known for her passion for the quarry sector and has specific interests in town planning, environmental legislation and advocacy. Tegan provides ongoing assistance to the peak body for the heavy construction materials industry in Australia (the CCAA) assisting both industry and government on industry related planning and environmental legislation throughout Queensland. She is also an active member of the Institute of Quarrying Australia and the founder of the Women in Quarrying initiative nationally.

We then enjoyed lunch and a panel discussion featuring Tegan and two other women currently working in the extractive and associated industries. Kathryn Czapnik and Alex Murray. Kathryn is an Environmental Engineer, Geologist and Project Manager at Boral, and Alex is an IQA young member and Operations Manager at Peninsula Quarries. Alex’s journey was amazing, considering she commenced as a Weighbridge Operator in 2020 straight from school and has advanced to a management position in a very short time.

The event was really well attended with the largest IQA Women in Quarrying audience to date – over 140 women from the industry in attendance!

-         Suz Gundry, HR Advisor