Senior Customs Officer Tale Tikoisuva is one of the first women to apply to work as a detection dog handler for Fiji Customs and Revenue Service. She explains: “Women in Customs are breaking the bias by stepping up to any challenge and showing everyone that we are competent and capable.”
Acknowledging the 2022 IWD theme, Inspector Michelle Bond from Australian Border Force said: “It’s time to break the bias. Women in Customs are succeeding and achieving. Women are disrupting drug trafficking, intercepting harmful shipments, detecting revenue fraud and representing their agencies with distinction.”
The Oceania Customs Organisation (OCO) encourages the next generation of women to consider an active, fulfilling and dynamic career in Customs.
Daphney Stone, OCO Operations Manager who was the first woman to serve as CEO at the Ministry of Customs and Revenue in the Kingdom of Tonga said: “Women have been under-represented in Customs, but the tide is changing, and women’s engagement is expanding across the region. We salute those agencies who are taking active steps to recruit, retain and advance women in Customs."
Phillip Dowler, the Director of RMIT University’s Transnational Security Centre explained: “We are currently working with 61 outstanding women Customs’ leaders from 17 Pacific countries through the Pacific Women’s Professional Development Program (PWPDP), and the message is loud and clear – WOMEN CAN! Women bring incredible talent to Customs administrations.”
Are you interested in a career in Customs? Tale Tikoisuva from Fiji Revenue and Customs Service has an important reminder: “Nothing is impossible when you dare to believe that you can!”