Infrastructure ACT’s Gillian Geraghty says the ACT is already rolling out Culture Standard requirements for projects. Photos: Ian Bushnell.
Infrastructure ACT is not waiting for proposed requirements to make construction sites more people friendly, particularly for women, to whom the industry is looking to fill a growing workforce shortage.
Director-general and chief engineer Gillian Geraghty told the Property Council’s Construction Outlook event on Wednesday (2 April) that iACT was already a few months into a 12-month program of rolling out Culture Standard requirements being proposed by the Construction Industry Cultural Taskforce.
Ms Geraghty said the Culture Standard was required at the Northside Hospital project recently awarded to Multiplex, and there were already other programs in train supporting women in construction.
She said there was no need for pilots, referring to five projects where the task force had road-tested the standard. Research results and a final version are due out in the coming weeks.
“We’ve had the Women’s Action Plan, for example. We have the Strathnairn school being delivered by Icon. It has an all-women team,” Ms Geraghty said.
“So there are lots of different initiatives we’re now bringing together, rolling up into the construction standard. We just believe we don’t need to pilot, we’re just getting on with the job and making it happen.”
That included the establishment of a pathways hub in the hospital project to attract and train staff, not only for that project but ultimately for the industry more broadly.
“We’re expecting the theatre [project] will come in that as well, and I’m hoping other projects will, too,” Ms Geraghty said.
“So that’s about building a workforce for our government projects, but also hopefully then for the greater workforce.”
Taskforce chair Gabrielle Trainor told the industry audience that Infrastructure Australia estimated an infrastructure construction workforce shortage of 229,000 workers.
Ms Trainor said the infrastructure workforce would have to double to meet a pipeline worth $230 billion.
“And the building sector more generally needs about 370,000 workers by 2030,” she said.
It’s hoped that more women going into the construction industry will be part of the answer in finding those workers and meeting the Culture Standard to attract and retain workers in an industry with a high attrition rate and poor health and wellbeing record.
Master Builders ACT CEO Anna Neelagama says good culture should drive productivity.
Master Builders ACT CEO Anna Neelagama said that, alongside union behaviour, getting more women into the sector and overcoming the barriers – whether it was flexible work breaks, the right operating environment or behavioural standards on site – was a big issue for the industry.
“Great culture should drive productivity, and what we’ve seen in building and construction here in the ACT has been decline in productivity of 18 per cent in the last 10 years,” she said.
“So good culture should overcome that. Let’s start by getting workplaces that are more accommodating to women and dealing with the union issue.”
Doma managing director Jure Domazet said that when the industry needed more workers, cutting out half the population as your starting point was undesirable.
“There’s obviously an incentive to create an environment where women do feel welcome inside,” he said.
Ms Trainor said women in the five pilot projects generally found a greater environment of respect and cooperation but were still subject to inappropriate banter.
“The good thing was that women found it much more easy to report that, and it was acted on quickly,” she said.
The Culture Standard also set maximum working hours at 50 and five-day weeks to keep workers fresh and rested and achieve a greater work/life balance.
Ms Trainor said the results showed an increase in productivity, less attrition and a positive impact on recruitment. However, longer-term studies would be needed to show whether more women would be attracted.
While there appears to be industry consensus about the need to tap the female half of the population for workers and create a safer and healthier workplace, concerns remain about more regulation.
MV Law’s Amy Sydney said fears about more regulation created concern for smaller businesses in particular.
“The barrier is the amount of regulation, the extent of the regulation, the extent of the changes, butting up against a person’s need to earn a living and run their business,” she said.
“If it can be done in a collaborative way, that would be fabulous because I feel like in the employment space, particularly in a lot of the federal changes that have come out, they’re just sort of spat out at business, here’s another change and deal with it.”
Mr Domazet said the industry would be sceptical of the productivity benefits of reduced work hours.
“I think just the environment we’re in at the moment, there’s a deep suspicion of any cutting back of any sort of hours any time on site because productivity’s been so bad.”
