Becky Felstead is pushing for a culture change within mining to make it a more supportive workplace for both men and women. Here she talks about the need for effective training of managers and how bringing men into the conversation is vital to achieve ongoing reform
At last year’s Women in Industry Awards, Becky Felstead was the winner of the Excellence in Mining award, for her work with Strong Minds, Strong Mines.
Focusing on mental health and suicide prevention in the mining industry, Strong Minds Strong Mines aims to provide a framework for mining businesses and employees to facilitate conversations, provide education and advocate for change within the industry.
Speaking to Earthmovers & Excavators magazine, Felstead, who was nominated for her work as a wellness facilitator and program coordinator at Strong Minds, Strong Mines, says that although she didn’t have a fixed focus on the mining industry when growing up, her parents’ professions did have an influence on her later career choices.
“My mum worked in social work and mental health, so I was exposed early to people’s struggles and what happens behind closed doors,” she says.
“My dad was a maintenance technician and fitter, so I also had insight into practical, trade-based environments and the kind of people who keep industries running.
“I’ve always been drawn to understanding people, what’s going on underneath the surface, not just what we see.”
After working in media and the health & fitness industry, Felstead says that her work with the mining industry may have looked like a large change on the surface, but the same challenges were there “just in a different environment and often with higher stakes”.
“I was working with leaders and crews to navigate mental health both personally and within their teams,” she says.
“During that time, I delivered close to 300 presentations, reached over 20,000 people, and completed more than 50 site visits. What that gave me was real insight into what people are carrying day to day.
“The consistent themes were relationship challenges, financial pressure and the impact these have on both mental and physical health. Those things don’t stay at home, they show up on site in performance, safety, and culture.”
How to start conversations
Since winning the award, Felstead has moved on from SMSM and works as a workplace culture advisor, focusing on middle management.
She says those working at this level are often expected to lead others without being taught how to notice changes in their staff’s behaviour and initiate conversations. This then leads to avoidance of challenging conversations and escalation of issues.
“A big part of my work is helping shift away from a reactive, blame-based culture toward one where leaders take responsibility for how they show up, and create environments where people feel safe to speak,” Felstead says.
“Alongside this, I’ve built The Resource and The Resource Podcast, where I continue to have conversations that help leaders and crew better understand what’s really impacting their people and where we can create change in our own lives.”
After spending years speaking about the sexual harassment many women within the mining industry have experienced, Felstead says she came to the realisation that in order to enact actual change, the conversation had to shift towards solutions. This involved opening up conversations with men working in the industry and changing the perception of harassment being “none of my business” to “this is all of our business”.
“One moment that deeply impacted me happened on site,” she says.
“I had shared my own experience from when I was a teenager, and one of the crew pulled me aside afterwards. He told me he didn’t believe me and questioned why anyone would share something like that publicly.
“But as the conversation went on, he shared that something had happened to him as a child. He had told his mum, and she didn’t believe him.
“In that moment, something really shifted for me. I realised that when we create space for these conversations, people don’t just hear the story, they see themselves in it. They feel less alone.
“It also highlighted that when we talk about sexual harassment and assault against women, there are often men in the room carrying their own experiences that have never been acknowledged.
“What all of these conversations have shown me is that if we want real change, we need to understand the full picture. The experiences people carry, the silence around them, and the role we all play in shifting that.”
Building change
At the core of her work, Felstead says she is challenging the culture of silence that means those working within an environment like mining often keep their struggles or things they may have witnessed to themselves due to shame or fear of repercussions.
This then has a cumulative impact on site, with safety breeches, poor behaviour and worsening performance.
“There’s also a gap between leadership intent and capability,” she says.
“Most leaders care, but many haven’t been given the skills or confidence to have these conversations early. So things get avoided, and by the time they reach HR, they’ve often become incidents or crises.”
The environment for women is another key focus.
“Women in mining can face challenges around representation, safety, and being heard in environments that have traditionally been male dominated,” Felstead says.
“Things like access to basic facilities, dignity on site and being undermined or dismissed because of gender still exist.
“There’s also a legacy piece. For decades, it’s been challenging for women in these environments, and that’s created a mindset at times of needing to “fit in or push off”, or feeling like there can only be one strong woman in the room. I still see elements of that today, where women feel they have to compete rather than support each other.
“At the same time, many men haven’t always been aware of these challenges, simply because they haven’t experienced them. What I am seeing now is a growing awareness and acknowledgement that women’s experiences are different, and more leaders who are genuinely committed to changing that.”
She explains that creating safer, more inclusive workplaces isn’t just about policy, it’s about behaviour, and this requires the involvement of everybody within the workplace.
“It’s about activating the people, particularly men, who want to be part of the change and helping them understand how they can contribute,” she says.
“One of the biggest things I’ve learned is that while women’s experiences in mining are different and need to be acknowledged, real change happens when we also bring men into the conversation.
“There’s a large percentage of men who want to be part of that change, they just don’t always know how. I focus on helping them understand where they can play a role, because when they step forward, it shifts the environment for women.”
Moving forward, Felstead says that she would like to see a greater focus on the day-to-day realities of working within the mining industry, not just what is written in policy. By focusing on training managers to be more confident in having conversations earlier with their team she says that this is a key way to enable a culture shift.
“There are people who want to be part of better environments, they just need clarity and a way to step into it,” she says.
“For me, it’s about creating workplaces where people don’t feel like they have to just get on with it. Where they can speak up earlier, feel supported, and be part of shaping the culture around them.
“Because at the end of the day, this isn’t just about the workplace. It’s about creating environments that are safer for our sons and daughters to step into.”
For more information on the Women in Industry Awards, visit: womeninindustry.com.au
For more information on Becky Felstead’s work and The Resource Podcast, visit: www.beckyfelstead.com
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