HIA Building Women Breakfast Symposium brings girl power to Launceston

HIA Tasmania Executive Director Stuart Collins said HIA is committed to supporting everyone in the residential building industry "to build an exciting and challenging career."

"Our Building Women program is just one way we are doing this - with dedicated events, training, mentoring, and awards designed to help grow industry networks, learn, and be inspired," Mr Collins said.

The key theme of HIA's 2024 Building Women Breakfast Symposium is Building Beyond Boundaries: Recognising Women's Achievements, Shaping the Future of Construction.

HIA ran its first Tasmania Building Women's Breakfast in 2020 in Launceston, one of several activities and initiatives the association delivers under its national HIA Building Women program.

"The popularity and support for the event year on year has resulted in us duplicating this event in the North and South," Mr Collins said.

According to the HIA Tasmania Executive Director, these are networking events where the audience can hear from industry leaders on barriers to entry, the future workforce, and the promotion of inclusiveness and diversity.

"It complements other work we do in this space where we profile HIA women, offer Building Women Awards, run scholarship programs and provide complimentary training to our female members," Mr Collins said.

He added that it also aligns with HIA's diversity objectives for the Apprenticeship Scheme and school-work-ready programs (HIA YouthBuild).

Mr Collins said the state government has previously supported HIA Building Women through the Supporting Women to Succeed Grant program and Keystone Tasmania.

"We are making inroads in terms of cultural change, attracting women and providing opportunities to pursue a range of pathways, but there is still a lot more work to do, especially about trade participation," Mr Collins said.

HIA National President and licensed builder Debbie Johnson said the association considers the Symposium vital as the state is "looking to upskill the industry as quickly and as capably as we can, and women can potentially fill a lot of those opportunities."

"We hold Building Women events nationwide, not just in Tassie. It's about highlighting the opportunities in the housing industry more broadly for women to consider," Mrs Johnson said.

The HIA national president said she wants people passionate about their field, whether male or female and observed that women don't traditionally go into the housing industry as a career path.

"So it's a great opportunity to raise the profile and also get them [women] in a position where they can network with others who might already be in the industry."

Mrs Johnson said there are many roles suitable for women in the building industry.

"Whether in design or whether you are good with your hands in a trade sense, there are lots of roles. Also, roles in approvals, building certifiers working in local government, there's sales, there's colour selection."

The veteran licensed builder said the association is seeing an increase in young women choosing to go into electrician roles as they tend to be not too physically constraining.

"We will continue to raise the profile of women in the industry and work closely with the government wherever we get the opportunity and bring more women into our trades and into the industry more broadly," Mrs Johnson said.

Building Women Breakfast Symposium is a (sold-out) RSVP event held on Wednesday, July 3. From 7.00 am to 9.00 am at Josef Chromy Wines.

Becks and Clennett's Mitre 10 Launceston, Vie Finance and Insurance, Brickworks Building Products and Simmons Wolfhagen legal firm are the event's main sponsors.