Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan and Women’s Interests Minister Sue Ellery announced a $3 million investment, as part of the International Women’s Day 2023, to develop a new TAFE scholarship program to encourage women into industries that are typically male-dominated and assist with financing their training costs and other associated expenditures.
The scholarships would be accessible for a variety of STEM, building, and construction vocations with less than 25 per cent female workforce participation in order to boost women’s access to higher-paying employment, the government said in a media release.
The officials joined construction industry experts to emphasise the importance of safe and inclusive workplaces in encouraging more women to enter and stay in construction and other historically male-dominated industries that are now in need of employees.
The McGowan Government also launched a new Women’s Workplace Safety Centre for all industries, expanding previous work to address health and safety concerns affecting women in the mining industry.
In particular, the online hub provides current information and resources for both women experiencing workplace harassment and employers seeking resources to prevent harassment in the workplace, such as what constitutes sexual harassment, how to file a complaint, and where to go for immediate assistance and support.
According to the WA government, the state has the greatest gender pay disparity in Australia, largely due to occupational segregation in high-paying industries such as building and mining.
Women made up just 18 per cent of the workforce in the building and construction business in 2022, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, while they make up a far smaller number of those in trades.
The State Government also released its Stronger Together Annual Progress Report, including the most recent information on programs and activities taken since the March 2020 release of Stronger Together: WA’s Plan for Gender Equality.
One of the main initiatives outlined in the report has been completed, with women now holding 50 per cent of Senior Executive Services (SES) contracts in the WA public sector, up from 33 per cent in 2018.
“There has been a concerted effort to achieve parity in WA’s public service, and I am pleased to have reached the key milestone of 50 per cent women in senior executive positions in a much shorter timeframe than was originally forecast,” said Premier McGowan.
Meanwhile, Women’s Interests Minister Sue Ellery said International Women’s Day is a chance to pause and consider the progress the state has achieved in the fight for gender equality while also acknowledging that much work remains to be done.
“We want to see more women putting their hand up to work in trades, and high-paying occupations they haven’t even considered to be an option before,” Ellery noted.
She added that the McGowan Government is dedicated to advancing gender equality in Western Australia, saying that “we need employers’ support to ensure women are safe at work and not being shut out of new opportunities.”
