How to attract, retain and promote women working in the civil construction industry was the issue of the day at this morning’s Women in Civil annual breakfast held by the Civil Contractors Federation Western Australia (CCF WA).
With just 20 per cent of women making up the civil construction industry nationally and Western Australia having the biggest gender pay gap in the country, gender diversity leaders recognised while there was positive work being done, there was still more to do.
CCF WA CEO Andy Graham said the business case was clear – more diversity has a positive effect on productivity and financial performance.
“Since 2011, CCF WA’s Women in Civil initiative has supported and celebrated diversity in the Western Australian civil construction industry,” he said.
“We launched our inaugural Women in Civil Mentoring Program in 2021 which is dedicated to providing support, guidance and professional growth opportunities to women working in civil construction.
“We recognise part of this challenge is making sure civil construction careers are a genuinely viable long-term career option. It’s important we have these discussions and keep moving in the right direction to provide career opportunities for both men – and women.”
Special guest speakers included Minister for Women’s Interests Simone McGurk, Champions of Change Coalition Program Director Tania Cecconi, and Clough Vice President of Strategy and Development in the APAC region Carl Titchmarsh.
Minister McGurk has led the State Government’s Plan for Gender Equality, while Ms Cecconi has been instrumental in shifting the conversation from fixing women to fixing workplaces and Mr Titchmarsh spoke off the back of Clough’s second Employer of Choice for Gender Equality Citation by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency.
Themes raised included workplace flexibility for both women and men, gender agnostic paid parental leave, government funded female leadership programs on major infrastructure projects, and women’s safety and security.
CCF WA’s Women in Civil Breakfast was supported by Kais Hire, CJD Equipment and Sitech.
