State Member for Wallsend, Ms Sonia Hornery MP, will today move a Notice of Motion in the NSW Parliament asking the Minister for Jobs to ensure that apprenticeships and employment for women in trades are more readily available, following the release of research showing only 2% of tradespeople are women.
Recent research by Tradeswomen Australia shows there is a lack of women across 62 trades in Australia, despite serious shortages in those trades. The participation rate of women is at 2 per cent in those trades.
Ms Hornery will call on the Government to develop a long-term change strategy that will focus on increasing the number of women in construction and civil skilled trade roles.
“With just 2% of tradies being women, we need to do more to encourage women to take up a trade,” said Ms Hornery.
“The number of women apprentices and trainees in the core trades of carpentry, automotive and electrical has remained less than two per cent for over twenty-five years.
“We need to look at the key barriers facing both women and employers in the engagement, recruitment and retention of women in construction and civil skilled trade roles.
“Employers believe the lack of women applying for roles is because skill-based trades are not being promoted as viable career paths for women during high school.
“Boosting women in trades should be an issue on the agenda as part of economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Many of these trades have a shortage of workers and with women currently losing their jobs at five times the rate of men, we need to ensure that apprenticeships and employment for women in trades are more readily available.
“I will be asking the Minister to look at ways we can increase the number of women moving into traditional trade roles and what we can do to support this long term,” Ms Hornery said.