INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY BREAKFAST

Victoria’s first Public Sector Gender Equality Commissioner, Dr Niki Vincent, addresses attendees at the 2021 Master Builders Victoria International Women’s Day Breakfast.

Master Builders Victoria International Women’s Day Breakfast – Keynote Address, Dr Niki Vincent

Dr Niki Vincent Victorian Public Sector Gender Equality Commissioner

An edited excerpt of the speech delivered by Victoria’s Public Sector Gender Equality Commissioner, Dr Niki Vincent at Master Builders Victoria International Women’s Day Breakfast on Thursday March 4, 2021. Learn more about the Commissioner’s work at www.genderequalitycommission.vic.gov.au

Published with the Commissioner’s approval.

“I’ve been in the role of Public Sector Gender Equality Commissioner for a little over four months now and this year’s theme for International Women’s Day of ‘Choose to challenge’, really resonates with my role in calling out gender bias and inequality. The Gender Equality Act 2020 comes into effect on March 31 and is a nation-leading piece of legislation that applies to about 300 organisations in Victoria and places a positive duty on our public sector to do better. The Act is designed to improve workplace gender equality in the Victorian public sector, universities and local councils and is committed to making reasonable, real, and measurable progress. The Act also has dispute resolution powers and while it specifically applies to the public sector, I hope it sparks change much more broadly than just the public sector. As well as celebrating women’s achievements, International Women’s Day is also about calling out inequality. It wasn’t until 1972 that women were granted to the right to equal pay, although we know pay discrimination still exists, as does the gender pay gap. In 1977, the Victorian Equal Opportunity Act outlawed discrimination on the basis of gender, but women still face discrimination at work, including unintended bias in recruitment processes. According to the World Economic Forum, gender parity will not be attained for almost a century and that’s why we must take action now, and ‘choose to challenge’. Let’s look at the statistics. I don’t need to tell you that the construction industry is one of the most male-dominated industries in Australia. Despite attempts to increase women’s participation, there’s been no significant change since the 1980s. We know for example, women are less likely to be promoted (of promotions in construction across all levels, women made up only 20.7% — compared to 48.9% across all industries). Women are even less likely to be promoted to leadership positions (women make up 18.5% of these promotions compared to 47.3% on average across all industries). Women make up just 2.7% of CEOs and equivalents in construction. All of this tells us that a woman’s career is less likely to progress within the construction industry, and we know that they are more likely to leave their role. Then there’s the gender pay gap. Based on total remuneration, the gender pay gap in construction in 2020 was 26.1%. It’s a slight improvement on previous years, however, construction lags well behind other industries. If we break it down further to Building Construction, the gender pay gap is even higher — 36.6%. That’s an increase on previous years and it’s well above the average of 20% across all industries in Australia. So, what’s causing this gender pay gap? When a workforce is segregated by gender it reinforces gender stereotypes and limits people. Women make up less than 1 in 5 employees in construction. When

Panelists during the Q&A (from left) Rebecca Casson, CEO, Masters Builders Victoria, Dr Niki Vincent, Commissioner for Gender Equality in the Public Sector - Victoria, Stefanie Apostolidis, CEO - Tradie Lady Club, Jeremy Clark, National Business Development Manager - Barpa. Attendees with their International Women’s Day pledges at the breakfast.

women do work in construction, their roles are concentrated in low paid roles — 77% of clerical and admin employees are female, which leads to further segregation. If you ask why fewer women work in trades, people will often respond by saying “women don’t want to work in these types of jobs”. However, it goes back much further than that, with historically little boys getting trucks and toy tools to play with, while little girls got dolls and toy kitchens. But we need young girls to know that they can build and make and fix things, because you can’t be what you can’t see. A recent paper described a culture of denial that stops women being recruited and stops the construction industry from improving gender diversity. This is the view that “women aren’t interested in construction jobs, because if they were, more women would take them up”. The problem is this view assumes that women have equal access to jobs in construction, that the rules and procedures and recruitment process are gender neutral. In her excellent book Invisible Women, Caroline Criado Perez highlights some of the issues in a world designed, by men for men, by default. The standard bag of cement may be a comfortable size for a so-called ‘average man’ to lift, but it’s an arbitrary size. What if an individual bag weighed slightly less, making it easier for a woman to lift? What about the size of bricks? When the average man picks up a brick, he can get his hand around it. The average woman has a smaller handspan than the average man, which means she can’t to hold the brick as easily. Why does the brick need to be made to those dimensions? Because it was designed by men to be used by men. And when the tools of the trade are designed for one gender and then applied to another, health and safety also becomes an issue. One UK report found that only 17% of women working in construction had PPE — personal protective equipment — that was designed for women. How else can we challenge gender inequality in building and construction? As I said, the problem starts long before people consider training or their future careers too. But then throughout school as well, where students have their aptitudes for certain subjects dictated by their gender. Gender segregation is also present in vocational education and training with more female students in health care, more male students in construction. Initiatives like Free TAFE are helping to boost participation in trades, including in pre-apprenticeship courses that are traditionally dominated by men. As well as removing financial barriers, Free TAFE is also helping women into training by providing flexible options for many courses, including classes outside working hours. Addressing gender inequity in the training system is important to help address gender inequity in the workforce — but our employers must also step up. Although the proportion of female students enrolling in construction at TAFE has increased, they’re not staying in the industry. So how can we retain women in the workforce after they qualify? This is where cultural change is so important. Victoria’s women in construction strategy also notes a lack of flexibility, macho or sexist culture and in some cases, gendered violence, inadequate work facilities and equipment, and informal recruitment processes, all of which contributes to the low numbers of women working in construction. There’s also a particular challenge with being “the only woman in the room” – or on the work site. When you’re the only woman, you stand out more; you’re under more scrutiny and more pressure. At the same time, you might be isolated or left out, you face a greater risk of sexual harassment and the reality is, you are more likely to leave the role. So, in a male-dominated trade struggling with retention of female staff what’s the solution? Bring on more women! We know that targets and quotas can be one way of achieving this because they can counteract those entrenched systems and force change. Of course, this depends on us standing up and changing the system. I am sure that like me, long after International Women’s Day, you’ll continue to choose to challenge the behaviours that contribute to gender inequality and consider how we can re-shape workplaces and industries in general — rather than the women within them for a better — fairer — world.”