Building equality in gender policies

Governments around Australia are pushing the building and construction industry to take action on gender equality policies.

Earlier this year the Victorian government revealed the Building Equality Policy (BEP), aimed at creating training and employment opportunities for women through government procurement on building, infrastructure, civil engineering and any other capital works projects.

Under the gender equality targets of the policy, women must perform at least:

• 3 per cent of the contract works’ total estimated labour hours for each trade position
• 7 per cent of the contract works’ total estimated labour hours for each non-trade Construction Award-covered labour position
• 35 per cent of the contract works’ total estimated labour hours for each management/supervisory and specialist labour position.

The state hopes to reach the targets by 2024.

Minister Simone McGurk from Western Australia’s Women’s Interests also recently announced a 12-month pilot program to raise awareness of the benefits of gender equality in the workplace. Suppliers with 100 or more employees will be required to demonstrate that they meet gender equality reporting requirements under the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012.

It will make WA the second jurisdiction in Australia (after Victoria) to introduce a gender equality clause in public sector procurement.

McGurk says the initiative will use the purchasing power of the State government to ensure companies are playing their part to address gender inequality in the workplace.

“Research shows companies with gender diversity are more profitable and productive and have improved employee satisfaction and decision making,” she says.

In the ACT, the government has declared that bidders for the construction of a new public school in Strathnairn must have a completely female management team, and women employed by every trade sub-contractor. The government is hoping to raise the percentage of female construction workers in the ACT from 2.6 per cent to 10 per cent.

The National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) says procurement policy decisions such as these are an important step to ensure women in construction are more visible to start changing preconceived views of the role of women in the industry. The Association has urged other states and territories to follow suit.

Image courtesy of NAWIC.