Welcome to The Tasmanian Approach by The Project Lab. Sharing the latest instalment of our bite-sized reports on how Tasmania and Tasmanian businesses are responding to today’s most pressing issues.

As part of International Women’s Day 2025, we’re looking at how Tasmanian women like X-Hemp's Andi Lucas are addressing inequality in Tasmania’s workplaces.

The Facts:

• The Workplace Gender Equality Agency recently reported Tasmania is Australia’s leading territory in terms of achieving gender equality in wages‍
• It follows findings of Tasmania’s women suffering disproportionately in the nation’s housing and climate crises
• Tasmania’s nation-leading progress is being driven by women like Dr Mary Lumsden and Andi Lucas, both of whom are building women-led workplaces to deliver lasting change

In 2018, Dr Mary Lumsden helped found Brighton Regional Doctors. With a goal to build a workplace where she would want to work, Dr Lumsden built a team consisting predominantly of women. Fellow Tasmanian Andi Lucas followed a similar path with her company X-Hemp Pty Ltd.

I started the company to address three things: Climate Change, Housing Insecurity, and Gender Inequality,” Lucas says. “So, one of the goals was to prioritise hiring women. I offered flexible hours to allow for childcare and school, I offered more sick days to take care of kids.”

Lumsden and Lucas are just some of the many women driving change in Tasmania by reimagining workplaces and workforces. For example, as of 2023, the majority of wool classing trainees in Tasmania are women - a stark reversal for the sector.

“I remember a friend of mine telling me he couldn’t find any shearers,” Lucas says. “I asked him if he’d hired any women. He said he’d had an amazing shearer but she’d had to leave to take care of her kids. When I suggested he offer flexible hours, it opened up his entire thinking.

”For Lucas, childcare is one of the main barriers for workplace equality. By simply addressing and allowing for childcare needs, companies can secure a workforce that’s stable, loyal, and highly-skilled even when many industries are struggling to secure or retain talent.

“I knew a couple, a doctor and lawyer both working full-time, and they couldn’t get any childcare to let them keep working,” Lucas says. “They had the money. They were in the city. There just wasn’t enough childcare to go around. That’s often what’s keeping women out of workplaces.”

The arc of X-Hemp and Andi Lucas, like that of many Tasmanian businesses, has often been typified by rethinking resources. Her company makes sustainable, hypoallergenic and climate resilient building material from hemp stalks that, previously, were used as incidental fertiliser.

“When I started looking into it in Tasmania, I found that we had plenty of raw hemp materials and plenty of appetite to explore sustainable materials – we just didn’t have a mill,” Lucas laughs. “So, there was all this value and potential just being left behind.”

However, even a trailblazer like Lucas may never have actually taken the initiative to shape X-Hemp into what it is today if climate change and the pandemic hadn’t pushed her into taking a non-traditional path – underscoring that, for many women, instilling confidence is still key.

“Initially, my plan was just to give someone else the idea or the infrastructure or the tools and move on,” Lucas reflects. “When the pandemic hit, all those traditional ideas went out the window. I decided – forget it, I’ll do it myself.”

“I probably should have given it up then. Or, when the roof got blown off our building last year. But, I’m stubborn,” she laughs. “And, I’ve had an amazing team of incredible women to support me through it all. Now? I think we’re set for our biggest year ever.”

Inclusive, supportive, and flexible workplaces have been key to fostering stability and innovation across Tasmania. At The Project Lab, we believe that true leadership starts with listening, empathy, and creating spaces where everyone’s voice matters.

If your business is looking to unlock greater value through inclusive strategies, let’s start a conversation. And if you’re someone looking to return to the management consulting industry but need flexibility and an adjusted workplace to make it work – we’d love to hear from you.

Contact us at 1300 293 763 for a free and confidential discovery call. Let's make a meaningful impact together.

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