The papermakers who started their careers in papermaking in the 1990s were all women.
Now they are more diverse, with women making up 40 per cent of the papermakers working in Sydney.
“The papermakers we know and love, they are all women,” says Ms Reynes.
“They’re doing what they love, that’s what we want them to do.”
Ms Reuesons mother, Sue, was a papermaker at the time of the financial crisis.
“I was a little scared of what I’d have to do,” she says.
“And there was a big panic going on.
It was so scary.”
Today, she is the papermaker for the city’s biggest company, Sydney City.
“A lot of people would say ‘What’s going on?’ but I think what’s really important is to know what’s going through their minds,” she said.
The papermaker community “It was like ‘Where’s the rest of the world?’
It was like, ‘We’re not doing it anymore.
We’re not working here’,” says Ms Trenberth.
“People who have a family, who are just trying to make ends meet, they’re not going to be able to.”
Today the papermaking industry is growing, but the diversity of the industry is still limited.
“There’s a lot of women who are doing this as a hobby and are just not getting it done,” Ms Triano says.
Ms Reys mother says the biggest challenge for women in the industry today is that the paper making process has changed.
“It used to be that papermakers were just working on the board and then they would make some paper and put it in the cupboard,” she explains.
“Now they’re putting it in a bag and they’re making a board.
It’s not just doing it, it’s making it.”
Ms Trienberth agrees.
“We’re just not seeing that as much in our lives anymore.”
The paper making industry was once one of the most important jobs in the world for women.
Today, many of the jobs are not filled.
“You see a lot more women going into business with more experience and more experience with what it takes to do that,” she continues.
“That’s really the big challenge.”
