Our Copper South Australia Carrapateena site has launched a Parents at Work initiative, supporting new parents on parental leave transition back to work. 

Returning to work after having a child can be challenging, especially when balancing the demands of having a dependant and a career in a remote location.  

Brought to life by the site’s People team, Parents at Work was established to create a more inclusive and family-friendly environment at Carrapateena. 

The initiative involves ‘keep in touch days’, enabling return-to-work parents to bring their infants aged between three to 18 months to site with a carer (arranged independently by the parent) to make the transition back to work easier. To meet safety requirements, a purpose-built room within the Village has been established to accommodate carers and babies, and car seats provided to transport babies to and from the airport to the Village. 

Senior Metallurgist Plant Carrapateena and mum Jacqueline Reinhold (pictured), who is currently transitioning back to work, recently used a ‘keep in touch day’ and said of the initiative, “I really appreciated the effort from the team to make it possible. Everything was well organised, the room well set up and the team were excited to see my daughter onsite. This initiative gives new mothers more choices when it comes to navigating FIFO and motherhood.” 

This is one of the many ways we’re creating a more inclusive and diverse workplace and a huge thank you to everyone who contributed to bringing this important initiative to life.