Show Notes
One in ten Australians work in construction. But it has the worst gender equity in the country. Only 13% of construction workers are women. Just 2.5% of tradespeople are women. Two-thirds of construction firms have zero women on their boards. The toxic culture that follows produces some of the worst rates of mental ill-health and suicide in any sector. On most building sites, there isn't a single bathroom for a woman to use. So how do you change an industry that hasn't moved in thirty years? In this episode, you'll learn: Why hiring on "merit" in construction means hiring mates, and what happens when the mates are all blokes How the industry loses $8.3 billion every year by keeping women out What construction culture actually looks like for women (and why "you must be the stripper" is the opening line of this episode) Guests: Professor Paula Gerber, Faculty of Law, Monash University Rebecca Dickson, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Law, Monash University Dr Valerie Francis, Founder, Constructing Equity Hosts: Becky Batagol, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Monash University Kate Seear, Professor, Deakin Law School, Deakin University Mentioned in this Episode: Read Rebecca Dickson and Paula Gerber’s proposal for ambitious quotas for female participation in the construction industry that all contractors seeking to work on government projects must meet, along with a strict compliance regime to ensure that the goal is achieved Read Valerie Francis’ commentary responding to Bec and Paula’s proposal Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) Gender Equality Scorecard 2024-25 (27 November 2025) which shows that just over half of companies in the construction industry have no women on boards (see page 34). mentioned by Bec. Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), Tackling the ‘pipeline problem’ in construction requires more than employer action (30 May 2024) discusses the kind of cultural change needed to achieve gender equality in the construction industry The National Association of Women in Construction which Paula helped to establish Building Pride, support and advocacy for LGBT+ identifying members of the construction and property industry mentioned by Paula Here’s a UK perspective on the ‘leaky pipeline’ for women architects, Women in architecture: the damaging workplace culture pushing talented professionals out by Lynne Mesher in The Conversation (2 October 2026) This piece that explains how Australia’s “macho” construction workplace cultures lead to poor mental health for the tradies who work in it: Risky business: how our ‘macho’ construction culture is killing tradies by Donna Moore in The Conversation (24 October 2019) The Electrical Trades Union report Nowhere to Go (2021), mentioned by Bec, which details unsanitary, unsafe, inaccessible and unsuitable toilet facilities for many construction workers and how this issue disproportionately impacts women One of the existing pieces of legislation Bec and Paula drew from for their Bill is the Local Jobs First Act 2003 (Vic) which requires the presence of locally-based apprentices and trainees and local supplies and labor in construction projects in the Australian State of Victoria. The other legislation that inspired Bec and Paula was the Gender Equality Act 2020 (Vic) which requires the Victorian public sector, local councils and universities to take action towards achieving workplace gender equality and consider and promote gender equality in their policies, programs and services. Norwegian rules for gender balance on boards mentioned by Paula took effect in 2025, which set a maximum number of board members of the same gender The Victorian government’s Building Equality Policy was discussed by Paula as an example of a program that uses procurement procedures to aim to create training and employment opportunities for women through government procurement on building, infrastructure, civil engineering and any other capital works projects Bec mentioned that the Property Council of
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