There’s a big skills shortage in NSW and various industries are crying out for tradies. People tend to picture the stereotypical bloke with a hammer and hat, but it’s all changing and there is massive potential for women to get stable jobs and good pay.
Tradeswomen Australia (TWA) is running an information day at Addi Road in Marrickville on Wednesday August 16, as well introductory training sessions on August 23 and 24.
Tanya Peterson is a workplace diversity officer (TWA) who raises awareness among young women (and older women too) about possible careers as a tradie. TWA has also been working hard since 2019 to increase female representation to more than 2 per cent of Australia’s trade industry workforce – fighting sexism, educating recruiters and changing macho culture in the workplace.
Tanya Peterson and Rosanna Barbero, Addi Road’s CEO, have known each other for nearly 40 years, having first worked together in their early 20s for TAFE where, as Barbero puts it, “We were trying to get women into non-traditional areas of study and work. Forty years later it is still the issue! That’s the problem and the real story.”
The info day and follow-up sessions, are Peterson’s and Barbero’s next efforts in opening up non-traditional opportunities for women – and this time it’s in trades. They do so knowing that learning a trade offers women a reliable pathway to foster skills that will last a lifetime, help keep them in secure work, assist them to set up their own businesses, and potentially earn on average $80,000 per year, depending on location and industry.
If you’ve been thinking about becoming a tradeswoman the Trades information session will introduce the idea of working in non-traditional trades and give you an overview of the types of trades available.
In the lead up to attending the session, you could check out the Skills Priority List (SPL) published by the Federal Government, which offers an overview of occupations in shortage as well as the future demand for occupations in Australia. The 2022 SPL showed skilled technicians and trades workers, electricians, carpenters, chefs, mechanics, machinery operators, drivers and labourers are pretty high on the list.
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Trades information session
Addi Road Community Organisation
Wednesday, August 16, 2023
Gumbramorra Hall, 142 Addison Rd, Marrickville, NSW, 2204
Call Tanya on M:0419 294 932
*There will also be introductory training sessions at Addi Road on Wednesday August 23 and Thursday August 24.
