"What is compelling to me about transport is its role connecting people to opportunities and each other."
Current positions
- Market Leader Transport, GHD - Sydney
- Board Member, Australasian Railway Association
- Chair, Women in Rail, Australian Railway Association
- Committee Member, Permanent Way Institution – New South Wales
- Panel Member, Customer Experience, Roads Australia
- Mentor, Women in Rail Mentoring Program, Australasian Railway Association
Previous positions
- Director, GTA Consultants (now Stantec)
- Director, Customer Strategy – Sydney Metro Program, Sydney Metro
- Manager Station Development, Sydney Trains
- Project Director, Customer Information Improvement Project, RailCorp
- Enterprise Portfolio Senior Analyst, RailCorp
- Business Analyst, RailCorp
- Operational Readiness Engineer – Epping Chatswood Rail Link, RailCorp
- Project Manager, Barclay Mowlem Construction
- Project Manager, RailCorp
- Construction Manager Sydney Airport Rail Line, RailCorp
- Project Manager, Incoll Management Pty Ltd
- Confederation of British Industry Scholarship Recipient
Career snapshot
Rebecca Want is passionate about creating everlasting benefit to communities through thoughtful design, construction, operation, and maintenance of transport networks.
She is the Transport Market Leader in the Sydney office of GHD, a company with a global multidisciplinary professional services network providing clients with integrated solutions across digital, engineering, environmental, design and construction.
Rebecca serves on the Australian Railway Association (ARA) Board as a Director, is the Chair of the ARA’s Women in Rail Committee and the recipient of the ARA’s Career Achievement Award for her contribution to the rail industry. She holds a Master of Business Administration, Master of Engineering Science, and a Bachelor of Engineering. With more than 25 years of experience across both public and private transport infrastructure projects and strategy, design, construct, operations, and maintenance, Rebecca is an active industry volunteer and mentor to women and junior members of staff. She is an advocate for kindness, equity, and fairness in the transport industry.
In her own words
It was completely by chance that I went into rail and we know from recent research that this is a common experience in our industry. For me, rail was simply where I got my first graduate experience and I loved it from the get-go.
From a young age I travelled across the state doing a raft of great projects from geotech, to replacing culverts in country NSW, to replacing a rail bridge on the weekend. I made lifelong connections and friends and feel a massive affiliation with the industry.
What is compelling to me about transport is its role connecting people to opportunities and each other.
To be honest starting my career in such a male dominated industry was tough; I was often made to feel unwelcome and excluded because of my gender. But thanks to my upbringing I have a strong sense of social justice and grit and faced these challenges head on. There is no doubt in my mind that I have missed out on some roles after I raised issues including being made redundant 11 months into a new role when I expressed to my boss, who talked about his children all the time, that I too one day in the future would like to have a family. This was more than two decades ago. Thankfully the massive shift currently occurring around parental leave for women and men across corporate Australia is driving valuable societal change before our eyes.
Building our community
I don’t want other women to experience what I did when I joined the rail industry. That is why I am so passionate about the work the Australian Railway Association’s (ARA) Women in Rail Committee (which I chair) is doing. Our 2023-2026 strategy is focused on four pillars – industry knowledge, organisational impact, professional development, and the promotion of rail to women. It includes benchmarking our progress in building a more diverse workforce through research, understanding what we are doing well and where there are barriers. Our new scholarship program is absolutely life changing and our amazing mentoring program has gone from strength to strength with over 115 participants. I have been both a mentor and a mentee and learnt so much, particularly around the qualities that great leaders need.
Another extremely important aspect of Women in Rail is the community and connection provided through a raft of events both in person and online. It’s about building a supportive network together.
A major positive change in business has been the awareness to structure events to allow everyone the opportunity to attend. When I was raising my three children I did my job really well, then raced home from work to feed and bath them. So, networking after work wasn’t an option for me in those early days. Today’s practice of offering inclusive events in terms of access, formats and timings is such a welcome development.
Service in action
I always encourage women to get involved and volunteer to be part of our industry initiatives. Put your hand up. You will learn things you have never experienced before, meet a new cohort of colleagues, and have the opportunity to give back. Being of service to others resonates strongly with me. It is what we do professionally creating great transport connections to enable people and communities to thrive, and it also applies to personal commitments to sponsor and mentor people in rail.
In 2022 I nominated for the Australasian Rail Career Achievement Award. I was surprised and thrilled to win, particularly as I think it celebrated the value of a rounded career spanning engineering, customer experience and strategy. I’m delighted to be actively involved with the ARA as Chair of the Women in Rail Committee and also a Director on the ARA Board.
My vision for the next five years…
For transport to be a really welcoming and inclusive industry; we transform communities through our work and we need all people to shape it.