Geoscience Australia
Profile Industry : Government & Defence
Location : Australian Capital Territory
SECTOR : Federal Government
INCLUSIVE PROGRAMS : Pride in Diversity

Geoscience Australia is Australia’s pre-eminent public sector geoscience organisation. Our mission is to be the trusted source of information on Australia’s geology and geography for government, industry and community decision making. We apply science and technology to describe and understand the Earth for the benefit of Australia. This contributes to a safer, more prosperous and well-informed nation. Our work covers the Australian landmass, Australian marine jurisdiction and responsible jurisdictions in Antarctica. We support evidence-based decisions through information, advice and services for a strong economy, resilient society and sustainable environment.

We are committed to the health, safety, inclusion and wellbeing of our employees and offer an inclusive, flexible and diverse workplace. Our commitments to diversity and inclusion are set out in our Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Reconciliation Action Plan. We acknowledge that creating a truly inclusive workplace is not a set-and-forget task and are committed to ongoing and engagement with staff and regular reviews of policies, procedures and practices to ensure they are the best possible fit for our current and prospective staff, and the stakeholders we engage with.

We are proudly a Bronze accredited member organisation with the Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) Program and are committed to achieving Silver accreditation by 2025. We are an accredited Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace with the Australian Breastfeeding Association and members of Pride in Diversity, the Australian Network on Disability and the Champions of Change Coalition.

We value diversity in gender, backgrounds, culture, and experiences of our employees. Applications from people who add to the diversity of our workforce are strongly encouraged.

Geoscience Australia is an Australian Government applied science agency within the Industry, Science, Energy and Resources portfolio.

We apply science and technology to describe and understand the Earth for the benefit of Australia via six strategic impact areas that shape and drive business activities now and into the future. The organisation aims to:

  • build Australia’s resources wealth to maximise benefits from our mineral resources
  • support Australia’s community safety to strengthen our resilience to the impact of hazards
  • secure Australia’s water resources to optimise and sustain the use of our water resources
  • manage Australia’s marine jurisdictions to support sustainable use of our marine environment
  • create a location-enabled Australia to use detailed and fundamental geographic location information to develop the nation
  • enable an informed Australia to equip government industry and community with geoscience data and information to make informed decisions for our nation.

We work closely with Cooperative Research Centres (CRC’s) such as the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, Government agencies such as the Bureau of Meteorology, industry groups such as the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies, Australian Geological Surveys and the general public through citizen science projects.

Geoscience Australia is one of Australia’s oldest publicly funded research agencies, with its first incarnation as the Australian Survey Office founded in 1910. Since that time Geoscience Australia’s activities have expanded and today it has responsibility for meeting the Australian Government’s geoscience requirements. This role takes us well beyond our historic focus on resource development to topics as diverse as natural hazards such as tsunami and earthquakes, environmental issues, including the impacts of climate change, groundwater research, marine and coastal research, carbon capture and storage and vegetation monitoring, precise positioning, as well as Earth observations from space.

Where We Are Located:
Cnr Jerrabomberra Ave and Hindmarsh Drive Symonston ACT 2609.

We also have a number of staff who work from home around and outside of Australia.
Opportunities:
Geoscience Australia offers a very wide range of roles, from drone pilots to mineral systems geoscientists to education professionals! Currently advertised roles can be found on our website – https://www.ga.gov.au/home
Qualifications Required
Each role has unique requirements, which are outlined in our job descriptions.
Size of Organisation
Approximately 600 staff
Organisational Benefits
Working at Geoscience Australia will allow you to make a real difference to the lives of Australians, and contribute to the future prosperity and sustainability of our nation.

Additionally, we offer a flexible workplace, social groups and clubs, on-site childcare, a café and free parking.

Geoscience Australia actively promotes an inclusive workplace where employees feel safe and empowered to identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and/or Intersex and Queer (LGBTIQ+), if they choose. We are a member of Pride in Diversity.

Our Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2019-22, builds on our Inclusive Culture Program, which emerged to increase awareness and understanding of how cultural norms and unconscious bias create inequity and potentially disadvantage our key diversity groups. The Strategy commits to a range of actions. One of the actions is to raise awareness of and promote equity and equality; ensuring individuals take responsibility and are empowered to take action. Geoscience Australia has implemented and maintains 40:40:20 gender targets for all boards and committees in our governance structure.

We have an active Gender Equity Network (GENGA), which aims to raise awareness promote gender equity and equality. GENGA holds a wide range of events which are open to all staff, including recognition of IDAHOBIT, International Women’s day, Frocktober and Movember, and facilitates training for staff including LGBTIQ+ Foundation Training, and LGBTIQ+ Ally and Leadership Training. GENGA includes several special interest groups, including the Pride Network, Women’s Network, Parents and Carers’ Network and Men’s Support and Engagement network. Senior members of staff are Champions for these special interest groups.

As an inclusive workplace, gender equity and stamping out sexism is a personal priority for our CEO Dr James Johnson, who is a Male Champion for Change. In 2020, Dr Johnson investigated the prevalence of sexism and sexual harassment at Geoscience Australia and led ‘listen and learn sessions’. Dr Johnson spearheaded the launch of new sexual harassment and sexism policies and procedures in 2021 in response to these sessions.

 Matthew Teh

I’m Matthew Teh (pronouns: he/him), currently the Executive Officer to Geoscience Australia’s Chief Scientist. I’m a geochemist by training, and have worked at the nexus of geoscience, international law and public policy. Like most geoscientists in Canberra, I enjoy my fair share of outdoor activities and am happiest when marvelling at vast and rich landscapes around the world. I also revel in unifying people to develop targeted solutions to complex issues.

I’ve worked in a wide of environments: from a radiocarbon laboratory in Tokyo, to a mine in Central Queensland, to the Australian Public Service in Canberra. Being of Malaysian-Chinese heritage and being part of the LGBTIQA+ community, I’ve felt the particular benefits of Geoscience Australia’s inclusive working environment where I am able to bring my best self to the workplace. I strive to strengthen Geoscience Australia’s inclusive culture through my participation in the Gender Equity Network at Geoscience Australia (GENGA) where I organise initiatives to normalise and celebrate diversity in gender and sexuality. In further removing the barriers that prevent people from wholly contributing to their workplace and to their community, I hope to maximise the full breadth of geoscience to solve the world’s most pressing natural resource challenges.

 

Trent Rawlings

Hi, I’m Trent Rawlings. I’m the Chief of Corporate Division and Chief Operating Officer of Geoscience Australia. I’ve built my career in the Commonwealth Government with a strong focus on corporate services, programme management and delivery, and policy development. I’ve previously worked in superannuation, banking and for commercial investment corporations. My qualifications are targeted to the areas I’m passionate about and include human resource management, project management, information management, network engineering and financial services.

 

I have the privilege of leading our diversity and inclusion agenda from multiple perspectives. As a part of the pride community myself I have experienced and observed challenges earlier in my career where organsations did not acknowledge or encourage discussions around diversity and inclusion. I know we have made a significant shift in removing existing barriers and building on how we contribute to a stronger workplace culture. My role enables me to provide leadership and to influence my colleagues so that we all bring our authentic  self to every situation and in doing so, are safe, supported and valued for our individual and collective identities.

Company Attribute
AWEI Bronze Employer
AWEI Gold Employer
AWEI Participating Employer
AWEI Platinum Employer
AWEI Platinum Qualifier
AWEI Silver Employer
LGBTI Diversity Strategy
LGBTI Employee Network
LGBTI Recruitment Policy
Pride in Diversity Member
Pride in Health Member
Pride in Sport Member
Transitioning Policy for Trans Employees
Geoscience Australia
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