Teletrac Navman, the connected mobility platform for industries that manage vehicle and equipment assets, and the Australian Trucking Association (ATA), today announces an evolution of their diversity and inclusion program as a part of their continued efforts to support the transport industry in attracting and retaining a diverse workforce.
The program was announced today at the trucking industry's premier event, Trucking Australia 2024, in Canberra.
Unconscious bias and fear of discrimination are some of the barriers for new people entering the typically male-dominated workforce and these organisations have partnered for the last four years to champion inclusive workplace practices and encourage the welcoming of diverse backgrounds to combat the ongoing skills shortage in the Australian trucking and logistics industries.
The Teletrac Navman Driving Change Diversity Program launched in 2020, and during the past three years 28 diversity champions from across Australia have attended dedicated training where they learned to become advocates for inclusion in their workplaces.
Titled "Driving Inclusion," the new diversity and inclusion program incorporates access to SBS Inclusion online training modules, an industry-specific inclusion toolkit and a committee of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advocates.
The Driving Inclusion program will provide more transport organisations with access to the tools required to build a diverse and inclusive workforce and includes access to training modules such as "Appropriate Workplace Behaviour," designed to help organisations meet their legal obligations under the Fair Work Act around discrimination.
Transport organisations will also have access to a resource library that includes recruitment guides and anti-discrimination policy tools developed initially in New Zealand for the Te ara ki tua Road to Success Driving Change Diversity Program led by Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand, also supported by Teletrac Navman.
Transport organisation teams will be able to educate themselves on appropriate workplace behaviour, core inclusion, cultural diversity and gender equality from June 2024.
"We've known for a long time that diversity and inclusion are key pillars in addressing the industry's escalating skills shortage. Hence, we are excited to evolve the ATA current diversity program with flagship sponsor Teletrac Navman towards more widespread industry impact," said Mathew Munro, Chief Executive Officer, ATA.
"Beginning with a focus on promoting understanding through SBS's engaging Inclusion program, our hope is that under-represented populations will be encouraged to consider one of the many careers within the industry. Enabling HR teams and hiring managers with up-to-date recruitment tools will be the second stage followed by leveraging the success of our past ATA Diversity Champions and employer network to bring these initiatives to life within trucking workplaces. We encourage workplaces of all sizes to sign up to receive access to the first 1,000 of 5,000 licenses we are offering free of charge over the next 18 months, thanks to Teletrac Navman and SBS Inclusion.
"Inclusive workplace policies play a large role in our global organisation, they're something driven from the top and require ongoing education and training to imbed. We see supporting this program as an extension of our own policies, and we see it an opportunity to support an industry we operate in to thrive. Not to mention the productivity and safety benefit gained from implementing inclusive practices, which are the cornerstone benefits of our own solution offering. Also, being a woman in tech, I know how rewarding it is to have more representation in an industry you love, so of course I want to see more women, more people of colour, more diversity of thought contributing to an industry that already has so much passion, but it's important for them to feel safe, to be set up to succeed." said Sarah James, ANZ Marketing Manager, Teletrac Navman.
The new program will be led by a committee of industry members including Amar Singh, named Australia's Local Hero in the 2023 Australian of the Year Awards; Meg Divall from Divall's Earth Moving and Bulk Haulage, a third-generation young industry leader and alumni of the 2023 Daimler Truck Future Leaders' Forum; and alumni of 2023 Driving Change Diversity Program Caitlin Barlow from JATEC Transport, Justin Khan from Qube Holdings, Rebecca Neilsen from Sims Metal, and Drew Hipwood from IOR; and 2021 alumnus Melissa Barry from Border Crane Consultants.
