The Property Council of Australia has backed the decision from the NSW State Government to commit $20.2 million to triple the amount of women in construction in next week’s State Budget.
Property Council’s NSW Executive Director Luke Achterstraat said the Property Council had long advocated for an increase of females into the sector through programs such as ‘Girls in Property’ and today’s ‘Women in Property’ lunch which will see over 1400 people fill the Sydney ICC.
“Even though the industry has made great progress in recent years, there still aren’t enough women working in property and construction and only 28% of leadership roles are held by women,” Mr Achterstraat said.
“Today’s announcement will ensure that more women choose a career in property, choose to stay and are given more opportunities to excel because there is a myriad of benefits both for them and the industry.”
Mr Achterstraat said the property industry was in the game of building better places, and good places benefit from a diversity of design and thought.
“When building design and construction has the input of a diverse range of people, we see better buildings, better communities and better towns and cities. This is important as our population and regions grow larger and more diverse,” he said.
“Diversity of thought also propels creativity and innovation within an organisation. Global management consulting firm Mckinsey found top companies that embrace gender diversity are 21 per cent more likely to have above-average profitability than companies who don’t.
“We hope this announcement empowers more women to consider the property industry as a career choice, to boost diversity, creativity and innovation for the future.”
