PART of being involved in the maritime industry is networking with other industry groups and truly working together to support diversity, equity, inclusion and acceptance. One of the groups I have been proud to be involved in is the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association.
As past president of The Nautical Institute and an active member of the NI South East Australia branch, I was very excited to see the recent agreement signed between WISTA Australia and the NI Australian branches.
In the spirit of learning more about where WISTA Australia is going in the future, I participated in its recent annual general meeting and met with WISTA Australia president Monika Lemajic.
Monika, we’ve worked alongside each other for several years, and I have been so impressed with where you have taken WISTA over the past year of your presidency. What are some recent highlights for you and the organisation?
The past year has certainly been full of successes. One of the highlights had to be the International Day for Women in Maritime; we had more than 300 participants at events across Australia. This was a great result and made all the work to organise the events that much more gratifying.
Another highlight was the change to the WISTA constitution. It is difficult to justify speaking endlessly about diversity, equity and inclusion when there are gender limitations on membership in the organisation pushing for change.
Well, at least WISTA Australia can now show that they are putting their money where their mouth is, having changed the constitution this year to remove the restriction that only women in leadership can join.
We now allow all genders, and indeed all professional levels, including students. And WISTA Australia is growing – we recently launched a chapter in Tasmania!
That’s exciting. But it can’t have been all smooth sailing; no organisation runs perfectly all the time. Have there been any challenges along the way?
It’s always tough to balance life with the day job and the work required to be president of WISTA Australia. We have to remember that WISTA is a volunteer organisation. There has been so much interest in our activities, and so many requests for input from WISTA Australia, that it has been pretty hard to keep up with it all. It is not bad thing; it actually makes me quite happy. Lately I’ve been conscious that the WISTA team demands have been growing and a look at our roles was required in order to support the increased focus on DEI in maritime.
Another challenge we addressed this year was reviewing the policies surrounding how WISTA Australia operates. Over a number of sessions, we looked closely at the objectives and goals of our organisation, to better meet the needs of our members in Australia. This including some deep dives into our processes to align with current legislation. It resulted in the great outcome at the AGM for the changes in the WISTA Australia constitution.
We have plans to continue the policy reviews over the coming 12 months. Our vice president Jessie Mahon has been the lead of this initiative and we are very grateful to have her skills and experience on the team.
It sounds like it’s been a huge year. Where do you envision taking WISTA Australia in the year ahead?
I think it’s necessary to continue to improve on our methods for attracting new talent and supporting industry in retaining women in the workforce. How do we welcome diverse groups? How do we attract and recognise the talent that we need when it may come in the form of a person who is not seen as a traditional employee in the maritime industry? This is where industry organisations such as WISTA, the NI and others need to work together to encourage better results, so that goals such as diversity and inclusion can become a reality instead of just a wish-list.
This article appeared in the October 2023 edition of DCN Magazine
