Fuelling Diversity: Ash is driving change in the transport industry

Ashleigh Belteky never dreamed when a local employer visited her school, offering work experience in a truck workshop, that it would ignite a passion for her future career. At the time, Ash had never set foot in a workshop, there were no mechanics in her family, and she had little interest in cars.

On her first day in the workshop, Ash found herself wearing overalls three sizes too big, a name tag that read "Angelo," and steel-capped boots. What was initially a daunting experience of entering a male-dominated environment, rapidly turned into a revelation. Ash was introduced to a whole new world of engines, machinery, and mechanics and her passion for the trade was ignited.

Six years later Ash has emerged as a champion of trades and was recently appointed as Kinetic’s Apprentice Pathway Lead in its Melbourne workshop.

The newly created national role will be central in delivering a program set to be launched in coming months that will support apprentices and attract more women to trade roles in Kinetic.

This investment in apprentices will help Kinetic to upskill its workforce, drive a culture of continuous improvement and achieve more diversity across the broader business.

This new role also comes on the back of Ash also being names as a finalist in the national Empowered Women in Trades (EWIT) awards to be held later on 23 February 2024.

Empowered Women in Trades is helping reshape the trades industry, championing diversity and dismantling traditional barriers with Ash being nominated in the category of Exceptional Human Skills.

As a woman in a traditionally male dominated industry Ash is passionate about encouraging more women onto the workshop floor.

She says a key attractor to the role was Kinetic’s commitment to reach gender equality across all areas of the business by 2030.

She acknowledges that for many women the thought of stepping inside the workshop can be daunting but says the job is rewarding and once the overalls are on, gender becomes irrelevant.

“I’m passionate about attracting more women into our workshops. The work we do every day brings together our hands and our brains to solve problems. That’s why diversity is so important in teams because it brings different perspectives to problem solving,” she says.

For women contemplating careers in traditionally male-dominated trades, Ash's advice is simple, "Put your hand up and try. You're only going to find out if you like it if you try, but you have nothing to lose."

A shining example of an apprentice who is doing just that is Sascha Caelli who works from Kinetic’s electric bus depot at Caloundra on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

Having worked in a parts supply role for heavy vehicles, Sascha recently entered the second year of her apprenticeship and said each day was rewarding and challenging.

“Having a hands-on role is something I really enjoy, and the workshop team have been really supportive,” says Sascha.

“Every day I am learning something new and it is great to know I will have skills and a qualification for life that can take me all over Australia.

“I would definitely recommend a career as a mechanic to any women who is considering it and it is nice to see Kinetic is establishing programs to support more apprentices.”

As Australasia’s leading operator of zero emission buses, Kinetic is targeting the transition to a 100 per cent Battery Electric Bus (BEB) fleet by 2035.

The company is partnering with accredited training institutions to ensure apprentices are equipped with the necessary BEB maintenance skills to maintain a high-quality electric fleet.

Ash says investing in the learning and development of apprentices throughout their apprenticeship is essential to developing skilled tradespeople who can work anywhere in the world.

“It’s an exciting time to be in the trades industry. Technology is changing and the industry is getting more complex with more electric components, so a big part of this role will be investing and nurturing new talent in our workshops to equip our apprentices for the jobs of the future,” she says.

Kinetic draws upon the international experience of its UK subsidiary Go-Ahead as one of the top apprenticeship employers in the United Kingdom. Go-Ahead employs around 1,000 apprentices every year and was recently named Employer of the Year at the Multicultural Apprenticeship Awards in Birmingham.

This knowledge exchange will be vital in helping Kinetic to implement best practice in this space and create sustainable pathways for budding apprentices.

This week marks National Apprenticeship Week (February 12-18) recognising and celebrating the value of Australian Apprenticeships to employers, job seekers, industry and government.

Further enquiries
Steve Cadzow
Manager - Media & Communications (Northern)
0428 127 147
stevec@wearekinetic.com