New funding to support more women in construction

| March 9, 2019

More building and construction industry career opportunities for women will result from the Minister for Women’s announcement of $675,000 for the Women Building Australia program, according to Master Builders Australia.

“As of today only about 12 per cent of the building and construction industry workforce are women. Master Builders is acting to fix this for the benefit of women and the industry,” Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn said.

“Women Building Australia is a building and construction industry initiative to boost the numbers of women in the Australia’s third largest industry. It raises awareness among young women, their parents and careers advisers of the huge range of rewarding careers and mentors women who have recently made a start in the industry.

“The program will deliver three 12 month mentoring programs nationally over a three year period and raise awareness about the huge range of rewarding and fulfilling careers in our industry at careers expos around the country,” she said.

“This funding follows a successful 12 month trial. The pilot mentoring program reinforced the importance of supporting women starting their careers in construction and facing the daily challenges of working in a male dominated industry,” Denita Wawn said.

The funding will be provided as part of the Coalition Government’s Women’s Leadership and Development Program.

Minister for Jobs and Industrial Relations and Minister for Women, the Hon Kelly O’Dwyer MP said whilst the sector has traditionally been male dominated, statistics have shown that women working in the building and construction industry leads to better business performance and workplace morale, and a decrease in mental illness rates.

“By introducing more Australian girls to the industry, and supporting Australian women already in the industry, we can build a great future for women working in building and construction.

“Whilst there are more women in work than ever before, with women’s full time employment and the female participation rate reaching record highs last month, we want to see even more women active in the workforce, including in the building and construction industry,” Minister O’Dwyer said.

 

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