Deborah Richardson

It was tough, if I'm frank.

I'd really struggled through school and, you know, I was actually reflecting over the last few days and looking back at my final report in Year 11 and it said that I completed Art, English and Typing, which was really actually a fail, but passing three out of my six subjects.

And so life was a struggle for me.

I hated school, didn't want to work there and my mum was convinced that I needed to go and work

in the bank.

And of course, I'd failed maths, so I was never going to get a bank job, although she made me apply for a couple.

And so I ended up in this call centre at the Gas and Fuel Corporation with about 200 other women sitting in a call centre, taking phone calls and

complaints all day long and then thought, no, I need to do something better with my life.

So I applied.

It was a time where there was so many men in the environment and only 2% of women, as you've said, Sarah.

And so it was difficult.

The academy was a hard life for me.

I had to learn how to study and certainly the physical aspect.

You had to learn to run and jump and swim and all of those things on top of study.

Particularly the women.

We got a very hard time.

And in fact, they would often use, and I'm going to use the word lightly, intimidation, if you like.

I guess they wanted to make sure that we could handle things once we got out on the road.

And so to yell and scream at you and point at you and all of those things were not unusual.

No, absolutely not.