Tuesday, 8 March 2022

Ministers statements: women in construction

Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop) (14:29): Today I am honoured to rise in the house to speak on the contribution that women are making to the government’s Big Build agenda and on our determination to continue to provide more opportunities for women across the construction and transport sectors. There are 165 Big Build transport projects going on right across the state, and as I visit many of these construction sites I am just thrilled to see the growing number of women participating on these worksites, many of them thanks to initiatives that have been driven through our Women in Transport program. I would like to acknowledge the terrific work of my parliamentary secretary, the member for Eltham, in driving this agenda.

There are more women on our worksites and there are more women working in the supply chain that supports this industry. We are increasing the number of women in leadership positions, and importantly, we are providing more opportunities for young women to start their careers in this vibrant sector. And thanks to some great leadership work undertaken by the Treasurer, there will be more of these opportunities into the future, thanks to the Australian-first Building Equality Policy that came into effect from 1 January, a policy that mandates—mandates—female representation across different trades and professions on all new government projects worth more than $20 million. This is great leadership. I also want to thank our construction partners, who will be working with us to make sure that we do not just meet the mandates that have been set now, that we set new ones because they are exceeded so quickly.

The Andrews Labor government is taking this action to address that well-understood under-representation of women in these sectors. A transport network that is planned, built and operated by a diverse workforce drawn from the community will serve our community better. Stronger, more accessible road and rail means more equitable outcomes: access to jobs, education, hospital services. That helps push down barriers for women and gives greater participation in our economy and our community.