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Entura supports ‘balancing the scales’ in women’s careers and opportunities

26 March, 2026

This morning, 26 March, Entura’s Managing Director, Dr Amanda Ashworth, took part in an International Women’s Day breakfast hosted by the Governance Institute of Australia.

Amanda contributed to the discussion on ‘balancing the scales’ across power, systems and leadership with fellow panellists Lauren Jauncey, Anita Dahlenburg and Brendan Windmeyer, facilitated by Elisabeth Flett.

Amanda has long been a passionate advocate for advancing equity and diversity in the workplace and across society. Throughout her career, she has championed and supported a range of initiatives to increase the proportion of women pursuing careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) and to enable stronger representation of women in leadership roles.

“Over the years I’ve spent at Entura, I’ve seen some significant progress in the industry,” she says.

“However, I still recall how profoundly ‘other’ I felt at an early stage of my career when there were fewer women in the sector. It’s very important to keep diversity ‘on the table’ through industry events, networking groups and days like International Women’s Day, which we celebrated recently at Entura.”

Amanda emphasises that such occasions are more than symbolic.

“These events are opportunities to keep checking our progress, raising our expectations, and recommitting to positive action. They’re also opportunities to encourage men to be involved in the conversation, fight stereotypes, unpick embedded perceptions, and become advocates and champions for equity within the workplace as well as in society as a whole.”

Amanda says that she is very proud of the work being driven by Entura’s Equity, Diversity and Gender Initiative (EDGI) to share information, encourage women in their careers, and support change.

“At Entura, we have above-average levels of gender diversity at graduate level, which is a healthy sign for our future pipeline of leaders,” she says.

“We recognise, however, that we need to think creatively and take decisive action to support women to stay in the sector and to accelerate gender diversity particularly through the middle and senior career stages.”

Amanda highlights that early encouragement, active support and visible role models can play a powerful role in shaping career choices.

“As little girls grow into teenagers and into young women, many of them progressively narrow their career aspirations,” she says.

“We must keep making efforts through the school system (such as Hydro Tasmania’s ‘Girls in Power’ and Generation Hydro programs) and in society in general so that the range of possibilities remains as wide as possible, including non-traditional gender roles and occupations.”

Having worked on projects throughout the Indo-Pacific, Amanda is highly conscious of global disparities in women’s lifestyles, working conditions and career opportunities.

“It’s so important that we consider, in every project we take on, whether there are chances to support female empowerment,” she says.

“For example, a project may be able to provide great learning opportunities for Entura’s women while also positively influencing inclusive processes, active roles and better outcomes for women in local communities.”

She points to the Tonga Renewable Energy Project (TREP), in which Entura was involved.

“It has been very satisfying to see the incredible impacts of a project like TREP. It provided opportunities for local women to learn and develop careers in the electricity sector, while the increased access to reliable electricity has supported many other local women’s lives through improvements in health, study, work and overall quality of life.”

Find out more about the impact of TREP on women’s lives in this short video.

Entura is the consulting arm of Hydro Tasmania, which is recognised as one of WORK180’s Top 101 Workplaces for Women in 2026. WORK180 assessed organisations across 10 key criteria including hiring practices, paid parental leave, flexible work arrangements, and anti-discrimination policies.