Katie would love for more women to be able to drive past a building and say, “I built that”.
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When you picture a building and construction worker or boss, what do you see?
Jo Farrell, Katie Delandar, Mattia Greaves (above) and Rachel Young (below) may not fit the image that came to mind, but women and girls like them are essential to the future of the sector.
It’s an industry facing extreme shortages of skilled labour – an estimated half a million new workers will be needed nationally between now and late 2026 to meet demand.
Enter the ACT Government’s award-winning Understanding Building and Construction Program (UBCP), delivered in partnership with the ACT Building and Construction Training Fund Authority and the National Association of Women in Construction.
This unique schools-based initiative increases the participation of young women and gender-diverse students in vocational education and training in the industry.
Nearly 300 ACT public school students have completed the program in its first three years, receiving nationally recognised training, work experience support and personal protective equipment for use in their future careers. Among them have been Mount Stromlo High School students Katie (Year 9) and Mattia (Year 10) and Canberra College student Rachel (Year 11).
Rachel Young. Image supplied.
Katie, who graduated with the program’s 2024 cohort last week, started an Australian School-based Apprenticeship (ASbA) and Certificate II in Construction the next day, working with Civion, her work experience host during the program. She said at the graduation she feels fortunate to be able to start building her career so soon.
“It’s not something I thought I’d be able to experience at my age, because I’m only 15 … all girls here should have that opportunity in the future, especially because of the lack of women in the industry. It was 3 per cent women who were working in the industry, but I really want it to be 50-50.”
Katie would love for more women to be able to drive past a building and say, “I built that”.
With a long-term goal to run her own company, she can’t wait to prove any doubters wrong about her career choice.
“I said I can do this, just watch me. You’ll see me one day, you’ll see me.”
Her girlfriends have been encouraging.
“Especially the women in construction classmates, they are amazing. They just support everything.”
The UBCP cohort this year consisted of Year 9 and 10 students from Calwell High School, Harrison School, Melba Copland Secondary School and Mount Stromlo High School.
Mattia, a graduate of the 2023 intake, is also undertaking an ASbA and Cert II. While she is yet to choose a specific area of specialisation, there is a frontrunner: “I’m a bit of a sucker for tiling. I did it at the Try-A-Trade Day … and I loved it.”
Meanwhile, Rachel’s favourite part of working in construction is being around “the big machines.”
She was part of the pilot in 2022 and now divides her weeks between school and work on a construction site in Harrison for Complex Co, having completed work experience with them previously. Her ASbA and Cert II are well progressed, and she plans to stay on at school till the end of Year 12 – maths comes in handy when calculating things like depth measurements for roads and paths.
There was nothing like UBCP when Jo, founder of Build like a Girl and 2024 ACT Woman of the Year and ACT Australian of the Year, started out. She loved the work, but was the only female in her apprenticeship class for four years. Their TAFE block had no women’s toilets, and years passed before she saw another woman on a worksite.
“It was incredibly lonely.”
Mattia is grateful to Jo and others who “stuck it out”, making it easier for this next generation of young women.
Katie reckons the UBCP is having a similar impact.
“Having more girls getting jobs, ASbAs, apprenticeships out of this is showing younger girls that they can do it too,” she says.
Feature image: L to R Jo Farrell, Matthia Greaves and Katie Delandar. Image supplied.
