Women work at all sorts of jobs in the construction industry. They are crane operators, carpenters, scaffolders, painters, traffic controllers and construction cleaners. They operate heavy plant on civil jobs and are increasingly involved in Australia’s resource sector – both as tradespersons and labourers.

Listen to the stories on this website –on our Training page;  in photo galleries - Jobs Covered by the CFMEU; or on this page’s Member Stories  to discover the kinds of opportunities available and what women think about working in the Australian construction industry.

The CFMEU encourages women to take up jobs in construction.

Where employers complain about skill shortages, the CFMEU says women are a huge untapped market of local workers who are keen to work in this industry as their stories on this website show.

The CFMEU has been a leading supporter of many of the women’s campaigns for equality over the past 100 years, including Paid Parental Leave and the national equal pay test case for social and community service workers, which lifted the pay rates of up to 150,000 women workers.

By joining the CFMEU, and fighting together with their workmates for union collective agreements, women construction workers can also ensure the good wages and conditions, which make this industry attractive,  are maintained into the future.

The union is there for everyone. They're always just a phonecall away.      

Natalie, WA

CFMEU National Women's Committee

The CFMEU National Women's Committee was established in 2010 and works to enhance understanding of equity issues facing women in all sectors covered by the CFMEU. The Committee includes representatives from the Construction, Forestry and Furnishing Products, Mining and Energy Divisions of the union and holds meetings and an annual Conference to develop strategies to promote and support women in those industries and assist the Union in its development of Affirmative Action policies and fulfilling its EEO obligations.

• Follow the actions of the National Women's Committee through CFMEU News
• Read about women in our industries making headlines In the Press
• Download the CFMEU National Women's Newsletter Feb 2012
• Photos from the CFMEU Women's Conference 2012
• CFMEU NSW President Rita Mallia on the value of having women on Super Boards: In the Press: Get on Board for super equality
• Great promotion of women in our industry in CFMEU WA journal page 23, CW Summer Edition 2012
• NEW! Australian Human Rights Commission  Women in male-dominated industries: A toolkit of strategies - tips on ways to recruit more women and create pathways of support to retain them.
  
• NEW! CFMEU Women mark International Women's Day with Message for PM Julia Gillard CFMEU News

Links to other sites of interest for women in trades

• CFMEU Forestry & Furnishing Products Division: Moving Women into Forestry Project
• CFMEU Mining & Energy Division: Women in Industry
• Plumbers Union QLD: Women in Plumbing 
• CPSISC Construction My Career:  Women in the Industry
• The National Association of Women in Construction: NAWIC