The Government will spend $45 million on 10 programs designed to increase women’s participation in male-dominated trades.
The funding, first announced in last year’s Budget, is dedicated to increasing advocacy, networking, recruitment, and training women for trades.
Skills Minister Andrew Giles said: “There is room for women and men on worksites”.
Meanwhile, Shadow Skills Minister Sussan Ley accused the government of rolling out the program at a “glacial pace”.
Female tradies
Women made up 1.3% of construction trades between 2018 to 2023, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Overall, about 13% of all jobs in the building industry are held by women, in what Minister for Women Katy Gallagher called “one of the highest rates of industry segregation among advanced economies”.
The peak professional body, the Master Builders’ Association (MBA), noted in a 2024 report that despite the rising number of women in construction, a small proportion of women are actually “on the tools”.
Budget item
In last year’s budget, the Government announced it would spend $55 million over four years to fund its ‘Building Women’s Careers Program’.
Today’s announcement means the Government will spend $45 million on 10 “partner projects” to the program.
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TDA has confirmed the remaining $10 million is going towards community-based gender equality programs, which will be announced in the coming weeks.
Organisations
The Government has announced $45 million will go towards 10 programs designed to increase women’s participation in trades.
It includes some construction-dedicated programs.
The funding has also been set aside for training led by unions and industry groups to encourage more women in other fields like cybersecurity and plumbing.
Coalition
Shadow Skills Minister Sussan Ley criticised the Government for taking almost a year to implement the funding.
“[The] glacial pace of delivery for women means many women have already made life decisions about study or employment for 2025 without the benefit of this program.”
Ley confirmed to TDA the Coalition has “no plans” to change the program if it wins the next election, due by 17 May.
