Women skilled in the trades needed face special barriers. This might be expected from an industry in which (in New South Wales at least) around half the employers have a workforce that is nearly all male and one-third employ no women at all.
Our survey of 70 Australian subcontractors found they saw significant safety, productivity and cost risks in employing migrants and refugees and groups including disengaged youth, people with a disability, ex-offenders, women and Indigenous workers.
In many cases, these perceived risks did not align with actual risks.