4 minute read
IN CONSTRUCTION
Out on the road at the WA WiT Try a Trade event.
Credit: CTF.
Back: Carlie Low, Radmila Desic, Cassandra Horan, Rachael Keiley, Penny Cornah, Toni Hillman, Helen Fedoruk, Rian Kelso. Front: Rachael Price, Ruth Gunaseelan with Zoe the service dog.
At NAWIC we reference the ‘Leaky Pipeline’ as an overarching set of issues impacting women in construction. This refers to the need to have more young women join the construction industry at the start of their career as well as the need to make them feel safe, retain and promote them.
We have promoted careers in construction for women and girls at schools, career expos, and sport career and development officers. We have hosted Industry leaders Collaboration Roundtables with Apprentices, Group Training Organisations (GTO’s), Union’s, and Industry Associations. WoT provides regular content for Study Work Grow’s monthly magazine to spotlight apprentices. It was great to give our feedback to the Queensland Training Ombudsmen on the challenges and issues female apprentices face in securing an apprenticeship and during their apprenticeship. This sits alongside our mentoring program and the many events where we get together to support each other. At a practical level these are some of the things WoT does for its members:
⋅Share stories from the local community and discuss the barriers they are facing in ⋅ Tradeswomen talking about what they do and how they got started in construction, making it relatable to the school students; breaking down the stereotypes ⋅ Showing that trades for ladies is
NORMAL and POSSIBLE and that there is support there ⋅ Creating pathway– i.e. how to complete school and transition into a trade or to take build a career in construction / non-traditional trades ⋅ Connecting with local community and resources in industry such as employment partner, education providers and government.
What does the future hold for ‘WoT’?
We are achieving strong stakeholder engagement; however, our goal is to have a greater footprint across regional and remote Queensland and in 2023 we will be looking to host more regional events to provide tradeswomen with opportunities to network and find support from like-minded people. We will continue to promote the Male Allies program and are in discussions on how we can provide this training to Tradespeople who run their own small businesses. We will continue to collaborate closely with the Queensland Government on programs to attract more women and girls in construction.
We hope that other NAWIC Chapters will be inspired to create WoT/WiT events and/or committees to support their onsite members and grow NAWIC’s relevance for all women in construction.
FULTON HOGAN
As part of its ongoing commitment to promote and drive gender equality in the construction industry, Fulton Hogan is proud to partner with the Richmond Football Club Women’s program. The program offers flexible employment pathways, which give the Club’s female players the financial means to focus on playing football at both AFLW and VFLW level.
The partnership which commenced in early 2020 has seen Fulton Hogan employ four Richmond AFLW players in a variety of roles both in the office and onsite. The women are offered on the job training and have been put through a Certificate III in Civil Construction.
Fulton Hogan Alliance General Manager Dean Riha, said the partnership with Richmond offers female footballers flexible employment pathways that support their rigorous training schedule. “Fulton Hogan has a real focus on increasing the number of women entering the construction industry,” he said.
“By offering flexible career pathways within our business, we are not only helping footballers to realise their AFLW dreams, but also providing the industry with female role models of which young women and school-aged kids can aspire to.
“The program boosts awareness of viable career options for women in construction and that can only be a good thing for the industry and our own workforce. We know that diverse organisations do better and this is an important step towards improving the gender diversity in our industry.”
Richmond CEO Brendon Gale said at the time, he was thrilled the Club was able to form a partnership that would provide female players with a meaningful career pathway outside of football.
“We are invested in helping all of our players to prosper on and off the field and this partnership gives our girls the opportunity to build a career in construction with excellent mentor programs and pathways.
“Partnerships with organisations such as Fulton Hogan, and their flexible approaches to career pathways are valuable to our Club, the ecosystem of AFLW and most importantly, our players.
“It is fantastic that Fulton Hogan is giving women a chance to serve as brilliant role models to the next generation whilst promoting gender equality in another industry.”
Fulton Hogan is proudly a Work180 endorsed business, further demonstrating its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. With Work180 only endorsing companies who are genuinely committed to removing barriers for women in the workplace, it’s a testament to the work that Fulton Hogan are doing in this space.
Despite moving on from the Richmond Football Club, all four of the women are still employed within Fulton Hogan across three states - demonstrating the ongoing success of the program. Fulton
Former Richmond AFLW player and current Fulton Hogan employee Tayla Stahl.
