Spring Hill Public School principal Ann Marie McAnulty started the initiative, Young Women of the West, so primary-school-aged girls could see and hear first-hand from successful career women - notably those in male-dominated industries.

"We want girls to know about the careers that can lead from doing STEAM [subjects] - science, technology, engineering, art and maths," the principal explained.

"Primary school is the right time to start.. sowing that seed about how many careers there are out there... and [encourage girls] not to be afraid to take risks."

The event which was held for the first time this week saw 30 girls aged 8-12 from both Spring Hill Public and Mullion Creek Public School hear from firefighter Brydie McGregor, engineer Pauline Malolepszy and dental assistant Elise Campbell.

"We have the most incredible young women here [in Orange] who can relate to my students - and that was the most important thing - that the girls could actually see themselves in these speakers," Ms McAnulty said.

"It's about being the best person rather than worrying about being male and female," she added.

"[Because] we certainly need to have more women in firefighting, we need to have more women doing engineering, and we need to have more men doing dental assisting.

"It just opens up so many more ideas for our kids."

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