Laing O’Rourke Australia retains employer of choice for gender equality status

For the third consecutive period, Laing O’Rourke Australia has received the prestigious Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) Employer of Choice for Gender Equality (EOCGE) citation.

According to Acting Managing Director, Mark Dimmock, the citation, which is awarded every two years, reflects our commitment to driving more equitable outcomes for all people.

“We are proud to be leading important and long overdue change in our sector. Ensuring our workplace is one that nurtures diversity and inclusion is a strategic imperative for us. This is more than an accolade. It is about creating a culture that fosters diversity and inclusion, innovation, productivity, and growth because our sector needs more talent to meet demand,” said Mark. 

Achieving the EOCGE citation is the result of meeting a rigorous set of requirements, and demonstrating a commitment to gender equality as a strategic imperative for the business and the industry. 

For more than a decade, Laing O’Rourke has implemented policies and interventions to attract more women into the business, and to keep them. In 2018, the Australian business developed and implemented a Gender Diversity Action Plan, calling out specific actions and initiatives to increase the pipeline of women in project leadership roles.

Since then, Laing O’Rourke has continued to push the boundaries, setting ambitious targets to achieve gender parity across global staff by 2033. The Gender Equality Action Plan, launched in 2024, sets out how the business will achieve market leading gender parity targets, through courageous change, honest conversations and building capability.

Laing O’Rourke Australia has implemented several processes, polices and initiatives to achieve gender equality across the organisation, including:

• Minimising the gender pay gap by reducing bias in pay processes, and increasing the number of women in senior and higher paying roles; 

• Implementing a paid parental leave policy providing both male and female employees with access to 26 weeks of paid leave (with no eligibility period);

• Paying superannuation on both paid and unpaid parental leave;

• Delivering Inspiring STEM+ which is a school engagement program designed to encourage more girls into STEM courses at university and ultimately careers in construction and engineering; and

• Implementing a sponsorship program “Cultivate Sponsorship”, matching senior operational women to Executive Sponsors, aimed at increasing promotional opportunities for senior women.

Helen Fraser, Director – People, said, “Since our last citation, we are most proud of the stance we have taken around the elimination of gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment, from risk assessments, training, engaging in courageous conversations to acknowledge and address destructive behaviours.”

As a result of these commitments, the business has increased overall female participation from 26% to 35% over the last six years, with a focus on recruiting and retaining senior women on projects and future female leaders. Today, half of the Australian Executive Committee members are women. 

“We celebrate this significant recognition from WGEA and the great progress we have made to ensure both women and men can access rewarding and challenging careers. We appreciate that there is a lot more work to do in driving and accelerating meaningful change and are pleased to see others in our industry join us. Together we will continue to drive change to welcome women into the great career opportunities that exist within our industry,” Mark Dimmock said.

For more information, please read Laing O’Rourke Australia’s 2024 Gender Equality Action Plan.