The Industry Innovation Program is one of four priority actions for the Women in Construction Program. The grants program was established to fund innovative ideas in industry to support the creation of inclusive workplace cultures, attract and retain women to the construction sector, support female employees and women in leadership roles.

This initiative is an industry-first, with major contractors coming together to offer women the chance to experience what a career in construction is really like. While it’s essential to engage school leavers, we see a tremendous opportunity in attracting women with life experience. Many women don’t realise that the skills they have gained in other industries can easily transfer to construction. Bringing these women into our industry can accelerate the cultural shift we desperately need—it’s about more than just gender balance.

The Attract Initiative was developed by ACA’s Culture Committee, led by Jayne Whitney, Chief Strategy Officer at John Holland. It is designed to showcase the industry’s evolving culture and the abundant opportunities available to women.

The initiative includes a public awareness campaign featuring a web-based portal, where women can learn about and explore careers in construction. But it goes beyond that—women will have the opportunity to visit construction sites and see firsthand what working in the industry is like.

Construction remains Australia’s most male-dominated industry, with women making up just 12 per cent of the workforce and less than 2 per cent of on-site roles. ACA’s Attract initiative is part of a broader pledge by member companies to drive cultural change within the industry. In addition to attracting a new wave of talent, efforts to establish workplace flexibility policies and achieve the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) Employer of Choice for Gender Equality citation are well underway. Already, four ACA member companies have achieved this citation, demonstrating significant progress toward the ACA’s pledge to create a more inclusive industry from the ground up.

The NSW Government is investing $20.2 million in the Women in Construction Program over three years. The program aims to attract and retain more women into the construction industry, with a focus on increasing the number of women in trade and non-traditional roles. Year 2 of the Industry Innovation Program was announced in August with $2.2 million allocated to 13 industry recipients.

Find out more about ACA’s Culture pledge: https://www.constructors.com.au/culture-pledge/