Construction on Country

Rechelle Leahy’s career has spanned over 20 years in all levels of government. She recently completed a six-year term with the National Rural Women’s Coalition, is a sitting Board Member of the Local Land Services, a Board Director with the Classification Review Board, a Board Member of the Australian Gender Equality Council and a Member of the ABC Advisory Board.

Rechelle is also a global advocate for rural women and girls, having represented civil society at the United Nations – Commission on the Status of Women for the past six years. She has also established a successful business, RegionalCollab, as a platform to further build opportunity in these areas and was named one of Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence in 2019.

Above all, her primary focus and passion revolves around gender equality, equity and policy improvements, particularly concerning rural, regional and remote women and girls in Australia. From that passion, the idea for Construction on Country was born. The program, which is being run as a grant from the NSW Government – Department of Education, will provide an introduction to trade opportunities for Indigenous women across the New England North West. 

Here, Rechelle shares how Construction on Country will provide local women with a pathway to economic security, build their confidence and ultimately arm them with the tools they need to become leaders and mentors in their own communities.

In Rechelle’s own words…

The program idea began after a number of conversations with women in our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community as part of the Local Jobs Program. Many women are keen to learn and are just looking for the opportunity to participate in practical programs.

From our work in the Local Jobs Program, we know that the New England and North West region has some of the highest unemployment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women across Australia. We also know that many women, especially those from cohorts with more barriers to workforce entry, are just not aware of the job opportunities available to them.

After discussions with grant partners including Guda Birgingira, iStem Co. and Community Corporate, we developed a program that would focus on helping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and refugee and migrant women into alternative trades pathways. We called it Construction on Country. 

Young women, women of colour, Aboriginal women and culturally and linguistically diverse women will be encouraged to participate in a range of pre-employment sessions including pathways to a career in trades such as construction, electrical, metal fabrication, carpentry and bricklaying.

Participants will also be provided with exposure to trades employment through employer site visits and information forums, as well as professional and personal development opportunities, including connected mentoring sessions both during and post-program. There’ll also be wrap-around services such as resume building, interview techniques and overall confidence building.

Connecting the region’s employers with potential employees will also strengthen workforce development and participation in the region, reducing barriers to entry into trades occupations, facilitating employment opportunities and addressing ongoing skills shortages in multiple trades across the region.

Construction on Country will run for the next 12 months. We knew that to do this we would need some funding support so we decided to apply to the Connecting Women to Trades grant program from the NSW Government.

At RegionalCollab we have a strong background in working with government programs, including having been awarded Local Jobs through to 2025, so we know what it takes to write a grant or tender proposal. We have the grassroots knowledge of what we need in the region, we know the pressures that employers are under and we also know our unemployed caseload really well.

A strong partnership with our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community was also crucial from the outset. So I ensured we worked with women who had experience in the community with specialist knowledge and cultural awareness, which has led to the partnership with Guda Birgingira from Armidale as well as iStem Co. and Community Corporate, all run by women of colour and women from diverse cultural backgrounds. 

I am a strong believer in bringing together women in all their diversity. I wanted to build a program that is a culturally safe space for our participants and that reflects their lived experience. Too many programs are built without consideration of these needs and I can’t think of a better way to build our women’s confidence but to see women like themselves succeeding in trades industries. It’s not about ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’ – we focus on ‘you can be what you can see!’

Ultimately, we want the program to provide women with the opportunity to see themselves in a trade role. Many women may never have thought that they could enter a trade or may not have known where to start – we want to help them build a road map to their future. We want to help build their confidence, provide them with a pathway to economic security and help them become leaders and mentors across their own communities.

How you can show your support…

Construction on Country is looking for as many businesses as possible interested in building their workforce to include women in trades. The women will have the opportunity to complete a few units of accredited training and then be invited to a ‘meet the employers’ forum. If employers are interested in a participant, they are encouraged to offer traineeships or apprenticeships.

Business owners who are interested in supporting the program can get in touch via the Local Jobs Program by emailing Rechelle at: rechelle@nenwfacilitator.com.au

Empowering women into trades

Construction on Country is a program providing pre-employment, mentorship, connection and opportunities for women across the New England North West to consider a trade pathway. The program will be held on the lands of the Kamilaroi, Gomeroi and Gamilaroi people (Tamworth). To register your interest today, simply click here.