On Tuesday, 24 September Master Builders Australia launched its 2020 national mentoring program to help increase the employment of women in the building and construction industry.

“The numbers of women participating in building and construction remain low despite our industry presenting a fantastic opportunity for women to pursue secure, fulfilling and rewarding careers,” Denita Wawn, CEO of Master Builders Australia said.       

“Part of Master Builders Australia’s Women Building Australia initiative, the mentoring program will work to boost female participation by supporting women starting out in the industry.

“The program, which is funded by the federal government, follows the successful pilot project developed and implemented by Master Builders in 2017/18,” she said.

“It’s an important investment in the future workforce and skills needs of the nation’s second-largest industry. We need an additional 300,000 people over the next decade, so this is about creating jobs now and in the future that boost productivity and growth.”

Master Builders Victoria is pleased to collaborate with the national office in support of the mentoring program.

“Women represent an essential resource that we cannot afford to ignore,” Master Builders Victoria CEO Rebecca Casson added.

“They play a critical role in addressing the skilled workforce shortage we face in Victoria as our state grows. Women in building and construction is a financial imperative.

“Technological advances in building, like prefabrication and three-dimensional printing technologies, have helped make career opportunities and construction roles for men and women equal,” Rebecca said.

“Important to the program’s success is the involvement of both male and female mentors who are established in the industry and whose breadth of experience allows mentees to be matched with a mentor who can best support them,” Denita Wawn said.

The results so far have been encouraging, with numerous participants reporting that the program helped them meet their goals. According to one of them:

“I was drawn to the program to gain connections among other women and understand how to continue along the career path I desired. The information and the advice I received through mentoring gave me something I was able to latch onto – to drive myself to achieve the goals I had set out, and which I then accomplished.”

Applications are now open across the country and close on 11 November 2019. Mentoring will commence in February 2020. We encourage those who would like to be involved to visit the website for more information.

Read the original media release here.