Deb DeCarli, Hydrogen Supply Chain Advisor at Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain project
Gippsland, Latrobe Valley
Share with us a time where you have had to #BreakTheBias – in your professional or personal life?
Deb DeCarli
When I worked on a demolition site in the late 90’s, I worked with some of the first women to enter an asbestos enclosure, which required a change room to be made available for us. The existing change room that we had to walk through to get to our small tent had magazine pictures of women in various semi-naked poses covering the walls. I guess the current employees assumed this would be okay and didn’t consider if it could be offensive to new employees. It looked like they only saw women as objects to be looked at rather than working side by side with them! With several young women on site who were required to access the change room, I requested the pictures come down. The response resulted in some serious pornography images placed in the female change tent. I felt really uncomfortable and intimidated, but I stuck to my guns and with the support of both management and other male employees, the pictures were removed.
Tell us about a woman you admire and why?
There are many women I admire including Marie Curie, Madeleine Albright and Julia Gillard. It is hard to pick one but for this exercise I will detail why Marie is high on my list. She worked in a time when it was very uncommon to have a female as a scientist and she was so passionate about physics and radiation that she gave her life for her passion. She is also still the only person ever to have won a Nobel prize in two different fields of science.
How do you choose to help create a gender equal world?
I try to advocate for women and diversity whenever I can. In my personal life, I am the Secretary of my local Yallourn-Yallourn North Football Netball Club. I have a seat at the committee table that I use to advocate for women which is primarily our netballers. I have been very active in advocating for a new netball complex securing grants for a new court, change rooms and bathroom facilities. It is something that our male footballers have had access to for over 40 years. I am amazed at the strong women in our club and the current and emerging female leaders we have developed. My message to netballers and women in general is regardless of your background, we want to support you to become strong independent women who can feel safe to contribute in our local community