Indigenous female trucker mentors women into the industry

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Less than 4 per cent of Australia's truckers are women at a time when the industry says there's an urgent need for more drivers. One of the few female drivers is Kattie Risk, a Larrakia woman who's using her business to try and get more Indigenous women into trucking.

Transcript

00:00But for Larrakia woman Katie Risk, driving trucks on some of the country's most remote

00:09roads is an addiction.

00:11I really can't describe it.

00:15It's everything from the shape of the truck, to the look of the diamond pattern on the

00:21roof, to the feeling of the steering wheel.

00:23For every 23 men driving trucks in Australia, there's just one woman, and it's an industry

00:28in which Katie says many still hold harmful attitudes.

00:32Discrimination is huge, sexism.

00:34I've been told, you know, have you ever considered weight loss surgery because you're too big

00:38to do the job?

00:41I've been asked to justify my aboriginality.

00:44With 15 years on the road and almost 2 million kilometres on the clock, she's now a director

00:49of a national network of women in trucking and helping others succeed in the industry.

00:54I've mentored a lot of girls that are facing these kind of challenges for the first time,

01:00and they struggle to navigate their way through the situation.

01:04Taking her mentorship one step further, Katie's now developing a program to get more Indigenous

01:09women behind the wheel.

01:11A plan to provide one-on-one tuition and employment with her company, Bilirawarra Trucking.

01:16The program that I want to create will be culturally safe and supportive for Indigenous women to

01:23help get them into the industry where they can come judgement free.

01:29Australia has a truck driver shortage.

01:31Over 28,000 driver positions remained unfilled last year.

01:36In the Northern Territory, where 85% of freight travels by road, the industry here is desperate

01:41for a solution.

01:42Yeah, it's pretty dire.

01:44We're desperately needing to see more truck drivers.

01:48We've seen some of the international drivers filling that gap, but we would be very excited

01:53to see more women in the road transport industry.

01:57A vital industry with a chronic skills shortage, adapting before it's left in the dust.

02:02So, thank you.

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