The AFP is celebrating International Girls in ICT Day by opening its doors to young women interested in working in a field that contributes to keeping Australians safe.
The AFP has joined the inaugural Work Experience Connection Program run by non-profit organisation Women in ICT (WIC).
The program gives young women and gender-diverse students in Canberra the opportunity to undertake work experience in a variety of ICT roles.
The AFP will host two students at the end of the school term, where they will spend time in the Chief Information Officer’s portfolio.
The students will spend a week learning the ropes in cyber security, applications delivery, information management and infrastructure; all areas that strongly influence what the AFP delivers.
AFP Coordinator Foundation Capability Rebecca Logue said the AFP was a progressive organisation that was committed to the goal of bringing more women into technology – having above-average IT industry rates of the number of women in the Chief Information Officer portfolio.
“The AFP has positioned itself as an employer of choice in this field through its demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion,” Ms Logue said.
“For the last seven years, the AFP has run a women in technology initiative to champion, support, recruit and retain women in the field. We strongly believe diversity of thought will create a better outcome for any technical solution.
“We can’t wait to give young female and gender-diverse students the opportunity to see what a dynamic IT portfolio looks like, to meet other women thriving in the IT industry, and to see first-hand how you can have an interesting and diverse career working with technology.”
Ms Logue refers to herself as an ‘accidental technologist’ after finding out she had an unexpected knack for IT when working for an organisation that outsourced an IT project.
Since then, she has been involved in many roles within the AFP, including SAP Test Analyst, Team Leader of the Solution Architecture and Business Analyst Team and is involved in many projects to deliver new technology to the organisation. She is now the Coordinator of Foundation Capability, which involves looking after all of the AFP’s corporate systems.
“The AFP is a great organisation with interesting work, a supportive and inclusive culture, and the opportunity to have many careers within the one organisation,” Ms Logue said.
“While the AFP has a strong uptake of women across the field, we need young women to consider a career in ICT.
“Technology will be an enormous part of the future and we need the skills and diversity of thinking that women bring to make sure future technologies are built for everyone.”