October 15 is International Day of Rural Women. First observed in 2008, it recognises the essential role women play in agriculture and food systems of the world.
Here at Southern Rural Water, we have many women who work to ensure our farmers have access to water that grows the food we eat in Australia and around the world.
To mark the day, we caught up with Field Officer Jules Shaw to talk about the joys of working in rural areas and the standout qualities women bring to workplace.
Tell us a bit about your career to date
I joined Southern Rural Water in July 2021 after a three-year stint at Work Safe in their advisory team. Prior to that, I worked in various sectors – including banking and retail – in customer-facing roles because I’m sociable and enjoy interacting with people.
In 2020 I moved to Colac, and in 2021 started to look for local employment. Fortuitously, Southern Rural Water were recruiting for a Field Officer. I was attracted to the role because it was a new sector for me, and I had a lot of transferrable skills, I believed I would add value. I was stoked when I landed the job.
Do you like working in a rural area?
I love it. I cover an area from Colac to Warrnambool and up to Ararat, so I get to spend time in some beautiful places.
The other day I was driving home past the 12 Apostles, and I thought to myself people travel from all over the world to come here and this is my office.
What do you enjoy about your role?
I love being out and about in the country visiting my customers, getting to know their businesses, and building strong working relationships with them.
Compliance is a big part of my role and I enjoy making it approachable and educational and breaking down the perception that it needs to be confrontational and something to be feared.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not afraid of having hard conversations to ensure people are playing by the rules. However, I find explaining the regulations in everyday language puts people at ease and helps them understand how to do the right thing. For me, a big part of successful compliance is about building trust and educating people as much as it is about enforcement.
Do you think women make great field officers?
Yes. When I started, I was trained by a younger female officer, and we often spoke about the fact we had better responses from customers compared to male officers when they were investigating compliance issues. And I think it’s because we have a different approach.
Women tend to be viewed as less aggressive or confrontational which can help in these situations. I always remind my customers that I’m not out to get them, I’m here to help them do the right thing – and they trust that I’m true to my word.
In my experience, there seems to be very few farmers who will be outright rude or aggressive to a woman. This kind of behaviour doesn’t seem to be part of the Aussie country bloke mentality. However, I think in tough situations where things could get heated, women are good at deescalating conflict and working through issues to land a good outcome.
I’ve certainly never come up against any barriers or felt threatened by situations. I treat my customers fairly and respectfully and have found I get a similar response even during difficult conversations.
Do you think women working in rural or agricultural industries deserve more recognition?
I think it depends on the individual. I know women who do a fantastic job running successful dairies, but they wouldn’t want to blow their own horn about their achievements. Running a dairy farm is hard graft at the best of times, but they would just see it getting on with the job even though many of them deserve a medal for what they do getting fresh milk on the table for us every day.
I think women are still underrepresented in rural sectors and that needs to change because women bring different approaches, skills and attribute to a workplace and this diversity makes it stronger.
Men and women approach things differently, but we all get the job done well and that’s what matters. And I’m proud to be out there helping my customers and showing other women how rewarding a career in a rural industry can be.
Women you recommend being a field officer to other women?
Absolutely. If you like being in the outdoors, interacting with people and solving problems then it’s a great job. In fact, I recommended another role to friend and former colleague called Wendy Roy who now works as a field officer in our central district. She loves it too.
Want to know more about International Day of Rural Women? Then visit: https://www.un.org/en/observances/rural-women-day