Women in Trades Program

Monday, 14 February 2022

Wodonga TAFE and Kestrel Recruitment have recently come together to develop a Women in Trades program. This program aims to provide students with exposure to four different trades; Carpentry, Cabinet Making, Plumbing and Electrical.

Successful completion of this program will help to increase their apprenticeship opportunities, whilst providing students with general skills relevant across the industries.

Running over eight weeks, the women will complete eight units of competency across the trades, with a large focus on developing their communication and Work, Health and Safety to ensure they will be able to start an apprenticeship with appropriate knowledge. The program also strongly focuses on gaining technical and problem-solving skills to complement the practical experience. Half-way through the course, students will nominate an industry they have enjoyed and through Kestrels industry connections will undertake week-long placements with local businesses.

On-top of the eight units of competency gained, the women will complete their white card and will receive fitted PPE that can be used well into the future.

Nick Wagner (Education Manager – Trade Training Centre), commented on the day "Wodonga TAFE is proud to be a part of this initiative. There is currently a shortage of qualified tradespeople across all industries and it is important that we can help to reduce this by encouraging and empowering women to join our industries."

We are excited to keep you up to date on how the course is progressing and are very excited to help be a part of increasing diversity in the trades industries.