Dr Erica Smyth AC was a trailblazer for women in the resources industry.

If Dr Smyth were to choose how to be remembered, it’s a fair bet she would prefer the focus to be first and foremost on her incredible contribution to Australia’s resources industry – and by extension, Australia’s economy.

Raised in Geraldton, Dr Smyth’s first job was cleaning crayfish tails on her school holidays.

After completing a science degree at The University of Western Australia, she began her career in the 1970s as an exploration geologist in the Pilbara for BHP.

Erica was among the original geologists in Newman who helped to uncover the vast iron ore deposits that would eventually form the engine room of Australia’s economy as we know it today.

Any resources worker will tell you that working in the Pilbara is tough. But in the 1970s conditions could be brutal.

Resources work at that time was also almost entirely the domain of men.

“I stood out in a crowd,” Dr Smyth said in an interview.

“You had to learn very quickly how to behave and I decided very early on that I was not going to out-men the men.”

After a stint in Canada, Dr Smyth climbed the ranks at BHP and moved to BHP Petroleum as manager of gas market developments in WA before moving down St Georges Terrace to Woodside as general manager of corporate affairs.

Just as she had played an important role in developing Australia’s iron ore resources, Dr Smyth would become a vital part of the effort to grow Australian gas exports to our region – gas that not only keeps the lights on across Asia today, but provides the energy security of the region.

Her accomplishments led her to corporate boardrooms and to many leadership positions in academia and philanthropy.

She served as Chair of Toro Energy and as a non-executive Director at ANSTO and Emeco Holdings.  She also held directorships with the Commonwealth Government’s Minerals Exploration CRC Program and sat on the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority Board.

She held leadership positions with the Royal Flying Doctor Service, the WA Diabetes Research Foundation, the Lions Eye Institute, the University of Western Australia (UWA) Centenary Trust for Women and Screenwest.

She was a passionate Fremantle Dockers supporter and the world’s greatest aunty.

Erica’s legacy is one of remarkable achievement and lasting impact.

Erica showed what was possible for women in Australia’s resources sector, setting an extraordinary example and helping to change our industry for the better.

She was clear-eyed about the challenges of climate change.

In a 2021 interview she took issue with climate change deniers, talking about how the world needed to protect the planet from the build-up of both carbon dioxide and methane.

“In geological terms, our current targets of net zero by 2050 gives us little time,” she said.

In recognition of her service, Dr Smyth was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2018.

I first met Erica when I was at the UWA, where we had both started as Members of the UWA Senate. Erica was an established leader in the resources industry, and I was an undergraduate.

Along with many of my undergraduate peers, we learned so much from Erica, and continued to do so throughout our careers.

She was a mentor to many, and always greeted me with her generous smile and kind words.

Her passing is a great loss for Australia, for our resources sector and for the philanthropic sector in Western Australia.

Erica Smyth was a truly great Australian.

Published in The West Australian, 3 December 2025.