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990 - Water - ADVERTISED WATER OPERATIONS TREATMENT TRAINEESHIP POSITIONS

Latham, Mark to the Minister for Water, Minister for Housing, Minister for Homelessness, Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Youth, and Minister for the North Coast
ADVERTISED WATER OPERATIONS TREATMENT TRAINEESHIP POSITIONS

(1) Can the Minister advise, why has Sydney Water advertised Water Operations Treatment traineeship positions that accept female applicants only?

(2) How do female-only positions comply with the provisions of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act?

(a) How do female-only position comply with the Commonwealth Sex Discrimination Act?

(3) What exemptions have been received from the Acts in reference to (2) & (2)(a)?
Answer -
ADVERTISED WATER OPERATIONS TREATMENT TRAINEESHIP POSITIONS

I am advised:

(1) Sydney Water is seeking to recruit women into Water Operations roles to drive greater gender diversity in these 'non-traditional' roles and to improve representation of women in STEM.

Sydney Water has 13 men and 2 women that are new entrant trainees. Sydney Water is looking to hire 5 water operations trainees, who are women, in an effort to boost the number of women within the water operations team.

Women deserve equal opportunities and chances, and it is pivotal that governments recognise this. The NSW Government has committed to several initiatives to improve women and girls' economic opportunities, health and wellbeing, and participation and empowerment. We are proud to be supporting more women into STEM and recognise the importance of diversity and inclusion across our community.

(2) The Act provides for exemptions under section 126 to give permission to favour a particular group of people, to recruit women into 'non-traditional' roles.

(a) The Commonwealth Sex Discrimination Act allows provision under section 7D for special measures to be taken for the purpose of achieving substantive equality between men and women.

(3) This information is publicly available on the NSW Anti Discrimination website https://antidiscrimination.nsw.gov.au/anti-discrimination-nsw/organisations-and-community-groups/exemptions-and-certifications/current-exemptions.html

Question asked on 3 August 2023 (session 58-1) and published in Questions & Answers Paper No. 62
Answer received on 24 August 2023 and published in Questions & Answers Paper No. 77

The Parliament of New South Wales acknowledges and respects the traditional lands of all Aboriginal people, and pays respects to all Elders past and present. We acknowledge the Gadigal people as the traditional custodians of the land on which the Parliament of New South Wales stands.