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Fox’s extensive career in high-visibility roles inspired her to establish a social enterprise aimed at empowering women to secure jobs in traffic control.
“Our goal is to ensure that the women we support aren’t held back by a lack of employment history,” she explained.
With more than 20 years of experience as a foster parent, Fox is acutely aware of how women can find themselves in dire situations, lacking both financial resources and work experience.
Fox has witnessed firsthand how abusive relationships can strip women of their finances and slowly erode their autonomy and independence over time.
This is where Fox Traffic Control makes a difference.
Traffic control jobs are both well-paid and in abundance, particularly in a growing city like Canberra.
Fox realised it could be a valuable launching pad for someone needing gainful employment who may be overlooked because of a gap in a resume, recent incarceration or a lack of skills.
“What a lot of people don’t get is… you might see a person who is homeless or is on Centrelink and you think, ‘Why don’t they just go and get a job?’,” she said.
“If you’ve never had a job before… it’s not that easy to do it.”
Since launching last September, Fox Traffic Control has helped around a dozen women find a stable job.
Fox and her former husband run Jonox, a crane, forklift and labour hire company in Canberra, and offer shifts holding stop signs at construction sites.
Employees work for Fox Traffic Control on a contractual basis and are sent out to sites around Canberra.
They are paid an award wage and, in best case scenario, only stay with Fox for a few months before getting full-time jobs elsewhere.
Fox also helps the women to write their CV and earn their White Card.
“We will tell them, if you’ve had 15 jobs in three months because everyone sacked you after two days, you don’t have to write that on your resume,” Fox said.
“Or explain to them what a tax return is or a pay slip.
”It really is such a life changer for people.”
Fox is at capacity right now but is hoping to ramp up hiring ahead of Easter.
The goal is to partner with the federal government to form a pathway program available for the one in four Australian women who experience violence by an intimate partner or family member.
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