Strong investment continues for NSW’s Women in Construction Program

NSW, women in construction, women in engineering,

April 5, 2024

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The NSW Government is continuing strong investment in the NSW Women in Construction Program, supporting work needed to progress a significant shift in the construction industry.

As part of this initiative, a number of projects are piloting increased targets for women in trades and non-traditional construction roles across the state.

Currently underway, the Women in Construction Infrastructure Skills Legacy Program has strategically funded 16 project officers on 19 government infrastructure projects across the state, including:

• Powerhouse Parramatta, Parramatta 
• Wentworth Point New High School, Wentworth Point 
• M7/M12 Integration Project, Cecil Park 
• Sydney Childrens Hospital, Randwick
• Newell Highway Upgrade – New Dubbo Bridge, Dubbo.

The Project Officers directly support contractors and sub-contractors to achieve these targets, and will identify and report on progress, lessons learnt, issues, barriers, and develop strategies to achieve these targets. They also link workers with available training opportunities and resources, and connect with local schools and universities to work towards building a pipeline of workers.

“This latest proposal was developed using the success of the Infrastructure Skills Legacy Program which has demonstrated that all targets can be achieved and in a number of cases over-achieved,” says TAFE and Tertiary Education Minister for Skills Steve Whan.

“The current Infrastructure Skills Legacy target for women in trades is 2%.  We are looking to increase this to 4% as part of this initiative,” says TAFE and Tertiary Education Minister for Skills Steve Whan.

“Recent data from Training Services NSW indicates that women in construction trade apprenticeships has already increased from 1% to 2.5%,” says TAFE and Tertiary Education Minister for Skills Steve Whan.

“This is just one of many NSW Government-led initiatives aimed at delivering an increased take-up of trade apprenticeships and occupations in the construction sector by women across NSW,” says TAFE and Tertiary Education Minister for Skills Steve Whan.

Early reports indicate positive progress, with an increase in women’s participation on the pilot project sites. With a significant government investment of $117 billion into the infrastructure pipeline over the next 4 years, the need to diversity the construction workforce is not just a priority, but a necessity.

“We are committed to reducing gender segregation and attracting more women to male-dominated industries – and construction is one of them,” says Minister for Women Jodie Harrison.

“With the help of the Infrastructure Skills Legacy Program, John Holland Group, has achieved the target for women in non-traditional roles – which is currently sitting at 8% and is tracking well towards achieving the women in trades target,” says Sydney Children’s Hospital Stage 1 Project Director Lizzie Cox and Minderoo Children’s Comprehensive Cancer Centre John Holland.

“We are extremely proud that the project has also achieved the Infrastructure Skills Legacy Program targets for the workforce participation of Aboriginal People, people under 25 and for local community employment,” says Sydney Children’s Hospital Stage 1 Project Director Lizzie Cox and Minderoo Children’s Comprehensive Cancer Centre John Holland.

The NSW Government plans to leverage data from these pilot projects to assess the viability of implementing mandatory women in construction targets for all future government infrastructure projects. 

Click here for more information on the transformative program.

Source: © NSW Government 2024

Image Source: © NSW Government 2024

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