Australian government encourages women to take up shipbuilding careers

The Australian government is encouraging more women to take up rewarding careers in the shipbuilding sector. Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price said the theme for International Women’s Day – “Women in Leadership” – emphasised the extraordinary opportunities available to women as Australia grows its naval shipbuilding workforce. Celebrated annually on 8 March, International Women’s Day recognises the economic, political and social achievements of women, in addition to highlighting the continuing challenges to achieving gender equality. Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price. Price said International Women’s Day was a time to celebrate the achievements of women and to challenge women to achieve even more. With the government investing billions of dollars in naval shipbuilding over the coming decades, there were bound to be countless opportunities for women to take leadership roles in the sector. The government “is committed to growing female participation in naval shipbuilding,” Price said. “We are creating thousands of jobs through our naval shipbuilding program, providing a stable, flexible and rewarding career in the shipbuilding sector for decades to come. The government’s commitment to continuous naval shipbuilding will see the sector supporting about 15,000 jobs. As I flagged in a new video today, I want to firmly dispel any views that defence industry is mainly for blokes. It’s not. We have a generation of jobs coming up in our sector and the opportunities for women in defence industry are fantastic. There are opportunities for industrious and inspiring women across many vocations in a growing number of organisations, and sectors, right across Australia. For women who are driven to make, to create, to learn, and to lead, the Naval Shipbuilding College can be where it all starts.” The college is connecting skilled female candidates with shipbuilding firms and education and training providers to develop the future shipbuilding workforce. To mark this International Women’s Day, the college has been working with industry to share stories of the work that naval shipbuilding companies are doing to build gender diversity within their companies. “These companies are trailblazers, inspiring the next generation of women to pursue a career in naval shipbuilding,” Price said. For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Kym Bergmann at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Director of Sales Graham Joss at [email protected]