The Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) Board has approved the creation of a new Commission which will focus on women’s participation and development in motor sport.
CAMS CEO Eugene Arocca said the new Commission, which will begin its work in early 2019, would allow a more streamlined workflow between the CAMS administration, Board and the Commission, in line with other Commissions that make up the CAMS structure.
“We are excited to announce the creation of this new Commission, which will ensure we have a thorough understanding of the areas we need to focus on to increase women’s involvement in motor sport across the board and at all levels, from drivers to officials,” Arocca said.
“CAMS’ newest Director, Margot Foster, has confirmed she will sit on the Commission as the Board Portfolio Holder, providing valuable insights she has learned during her time in high profile sports across the country.”
CAMS recently launched the Australian arm of the Dare To Be Different Program (D2BD), working closely with Formula 1 test driver Susie Wolff, who created the program in Europe. It is expected the new Commission will closely align with D2BD’s objectives and D2BD will remain a key part of CAMS’ plans in the future.
“Dare To Be Different has proven to be a very popular program and has already received plenty of interest from schools and young females keen on pursuing a career in the motor sports industry,” Arocca added.
“While Dare To Be Different has a focus on encouraging young women to take up STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) education subjects and increasing women’s participation in motor sport among school aged students, the Commission will take a broader look at females in the sport to ensure they are adequately represented and heard.
“We will soon officially begin the recruitment process for this commission and both men and women are being encouraged to apply. Full details of how to apply will be on our website shortly.”
The change means the Women of Australian Motor Sport (WAMS) entity, an initiative of CAMS, will be replaced by the Commission as of 31 December this year. Current WAMS committee members have been encouraged to apply for the Commission to ensure the valued knowledge and experience within WAMS is retained.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Karyn Hamer, WAMS Chair, and the committee members for their fantastic work and initiatives over the past few years,” Arocca added.
“WAMS has done a great job of ensuring women were given every chance to be involved in the sport, including hosting programs like the successful female officials exchange program, which allowed Australian officials to take part in the Singapore Grand Prix and vice versa. I am sure many of those involved in WAMS will be keen to play a part in the new Commission.”
Hamer said she was proud of what WAMS had achieved.
“WAMS is exceptionally proud of its success over the past eight years in a variety of programs and opportunities from our media profiles to come and try days, officials opportunities to the Junior Driver Development Scholarship,” Hamer said.
“This would not have been possible without the leadership under our previous WAMS Chairs, Leanne Tander, Belinda Taylor and Samantha Reid, the support of our partners and the tireless work of WAMS Committee members past and present.”
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