The National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) launched Off Site, Not Out of Mind on Monday, 1 June, a national campaign to change how the construction industry supports women through pregnancy, parental leave and the return to work, and to act on landmark research – by the University of Sydney Business School in partnership with NAWIC – into the experiences of women in the sector.
Launching on the Global Day of Parents, the campaign arrives as the Australian Government’s paid parental leave scheme reaches a national milestone. From 1 July 2026, the scheme rises to 26 weeks, the final step of a staged expansion begun in 2024. NAWIC said the change, alongside renewed national scrutiny of how employers treat new parents, made it a critical moment for an industry facing acute skills shortages to act.
While the research focused on the experiences of women, the campaign rests on two convictions. The first, Better for Everyone, is that improving conditions for mothers improves them for fathers and families too, and the fastest way to shift the culture is to support men to take genuine parental leave. The second, Parenting Out Loud, is that caregiving should be made visible on site and talked about openly, normalising the idea that workers can have both a career and a family in construction.
Women make up approximately 13 per cent of Australia’s construction workforce, with only around 3 per cent working in trade roles. Because so few women have gone before them, many are the first person in their workplace to take parental leave, leaving outcomes to depend heavily on the support of an individual manager.
The research, funded by Infrastructure NSW’s Women in Construction program and conducted by lead academic Dr. Natalie Galea, Associate Professor Myra Hamilton, Dr. Sally Hanna-Osborne, Ms. Alison Williams, and Ms. Alison McFadyen found support for women across the sector falls well short of leading practice:
• Fully employer-funded paid parental leave appears in fewer than 3 per cent of NSW construction enterprise agreements reviewed (18 of 623).
• The average duration of paid leave for primary carers across the industry is 12.4 weeks, against the 26 weeks now regarded as leading practice.
• Only one woman in the study had access to a dedicated on-site lactation room, and basic amenities such as women’s toilets and lactation rooms are frequently absent.
• Earlier research by the same lead academic found half the women in the construction organisations examined did not return to work after parental leave.
Rather than leave employers with a list of problems, the campaign converts the study’s recommendations into practical tools that site leaders can use directly, including toolkit editions for leaders and crews and a 15-minute toolbox talk. It calls for coordinated action from government, employers, unions and clients to:
• Extend and de-gender paid parental leave toward 26 weeks at full pay with superannuation.
• Normalise family-friendly hours and genuine flexibility on site.
• Mandate and enforce safe, inclusive amenities, including women’s toilets and lactation facilities.
Quotes attributable to NAWIC CEO Cathryn Greville:
‘The construction industry continues to face real challenges attracting and retaining women, and one of the most critical and often overlooked moments is the transition into and out of parental leave. We are losing skilled workers at the exact moment they start a family, with real commercial and project-delivery consequences for the whole sector.’
‘This research was released last year, but findings this significant cannot be left to gather dust. Off Site, Not Out of Mind exists to give them the national attention they deserve and to turn them into change on site.’
‘The encouraging part is that construction is already moving faster than any other industry on men taking leave. We are giving site leaders the practical tools and the proof that it can be done, because this is not a women’s issue, it is a workforce issue. Get it right for mums, and you get it right for dads and families, too.’
Individuals and organisations can learn more about the campaign and download the toolkit through the National Association of Women in Construction website at www.nawic.com.au/parental-leave.