Assistant minister for technical and further education Saxon Rice yesterday launched the 2015 Queensland Resources Council (QRC)/Women in Mining and Resources Queensland (WIMARQ) Mentoring Program.

The program is part of the Queensland government’s Four Pillars strategy and its commitment to attracting and retaining women workers in male-dominated fields.

The $300,000 three-year program has already seen 20 women complete a six-month mentoring program, where they were matched with CEOs and senior executives from resources sector companies.

“We’re aiming to retain women already working in the resources industry by establishing support channels and further developing their skills and leadership qualities,” Rice said.

“The 2015 program will see 40 women matched with mentors and we expect that they will also gain a wealth of knowledge and the benefit of their mentors’ experiences.”

QRC CEO Michael Roche said that the need for mentoring was one of the major recommendations from its study into the retention of women in the resources sector.

“The QRC has a goal of 20% in non-traditional roles by 2020, and this program will help us reach our target,” Roche said.

“The proportion of women in these roles has risen from 6% in 2006 to 13.5%, which puts us on track, but we still have some way to go.

“The QRC is very grateful for the government’s support of this program, which has engendered some excellent feedback from the first group to take part.”