Loretta Lynch

In her own words

I grew up in Brisbane, not dreaming of a career in public transport leadership nor accounting, in a time when young women were encouraged to do anything we wanted, but the reality of that wasn’t yet aligned. Being the middle of five children allowed me to practice collaboration and influencing talents early in my life and has been extremely useful in the transport and mining industries.

My first job was as an accountant with Mt Isa Mines, where my big break came when an opportunity to work in Buenos Aires came up suddenly and they needed to fill it quickly. I was 28, immediately available and said yes. It was exciting work and a fascinating cultural experience in a huge, sophisticated city. I learnt fluent Spanish and lived in Argentina for five years – who’d have thought accounting could be so interesting! 

Returning to Australia I joined Leighton Mining, a contract miner rather than an owner miner, allowing me to grow commercial manager skills before taking up roles with Macarthur Coal and Downer EDI Mining. It was through Downer’s joint venture with the French transport company Keolis that I first became involved in transport, joining G:link light rail on the Gold Coast, firstly as CFO before becoming CEO. I fell in love with transport immediately. It was thrilling to be a part of the 2018 Commonwealth Games service delivery and so joyous to see athletes and spectators interacting together while travelling on our services.

The thing I am most proud of in my career is the culture we created at the Gold Coast light rail, particularly around safety. Through targeted training programs focussing on personal leadership and accountability, within 12 months we had a 75% reduction in lost time injury and a 10% increase in staff engagement. My priorities were always clear: we focus on safety first, then passengers, and only then do we focus on performance. Keeping these priorities super clear and in that order, we developed an extremely high-quality culture. People knew immediately how we wanted them to react when issues arose, as they do every day in transport.

After G:link, I joined Aurizon for a period, gaining valuable heavy rail experience before being appointed Managing Director of Transdev’s Melbourne bus division, then  Managing Director at their Sydney Ferries operation. Standing at the helm of a ferry heading into Circular Quay while speaking with the master is a career highlight, and I got to do that a couple of times a week. It was a dream come true to lead Sydney Ferries and I absolutely loved it.

Public transport really gets me up in the morning because we enable people to access the things essential to their wellbeing. An additional benefit is to have better cities through less cars. Public transport should be appealing enough that people will prefer it over cars, allowing more liveable cities for all. 

In March 2024, I gave up full time work and joined several boards, which allows me to focus a wider view on two things I am most passionate about - public transport and young people.

Quotas for change

When it comes to diversity, I see clear benefit from quotas when you cannot make a change using status quo methods. There is a lot of evidence that when you bring over 30% of a minority into a dominant culture, they can have an effect, but where there is less than that, it’s too hard to create impact and they often exit. In transport, lots of people bring family and friends into the industry.  I would love to see more programs where men specifically sponsor women that they know. It could build a diverse workforce and a great culture, because when you are working alongside a friend or relative of a workmate you are far more likely to be supportive and respectful and they are more likely to stay.

Ask always

Ask for advice from others. You learn so much more and you demonstrate you value the expertise of those around you. It is an excellent way to build great relationships and influence. 

Understand what your brand is – good or bad, play to your strengths and find an organisation that lets you use your strengths fully. My number one strength is positivity. If I have ended up in an organisation where my positivity isn’t appreciated because it hasn’t matched the culture, I have left to find another organisation that does value this strength. 

Always be open to honest feedback; seek it out and treat it as a gift even if you don’t like what comes back.  

Creating a supportive network around you is essential. Transport leadership roles are often 24/7 and can be all-consuming. As much as I loved leading large teams, it is tough at times. Build a good network to bounce ideas off and to blow off steam.