The Big Sister program is coming together to help make those jobs for women in the trades a reality, a program led by women for women.
The Big Sister program was launched in May at PEER in SA. Minister Amanda Rishworth, Federal Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Minister Boyer, State Minister for Education, Training and Skills, and representatives from the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations attended and showed their support for the program.
The energy trades provide women with meaningful, well-paid work that offer the opportunity to contribute to some of Australia’s biggest challenges.
The Big Sister: Advance Mentoring SA/WA project drives transformational change in the construction and clean energy sectors by implementing an access and retention program for apprentices, led by women for women. From 2025 to 2027, Big Sister will be in schools, workplaces and training institutes across Adelaide, Perth and regional SA and WA.
Big Sister has been moving forward in leaps and bounds. And in an exciting development, Big Sister now has a Mento Lead for the program and that is Gaynor Maree.
Gaynor is a qualified sparkie, having completed her apprenticeship over 10 years ago. As part of her union, Gaynor is the State women’s officer at the CEPU in SA, the ETU National women’s officer. Gaynor is a tireless advocate for needing to get more women into the electrical trades. It’s fantastic to have Gaynor’s passion and experience as a member of the Big Sister team. We know the program can only go from strength to strength with Gaynor involved.
“Big Sister is an amazing opportunity for women to begin their career in the electrical industry. Big Sister is about bringing women together and making sure they feel supported from the start and then throughout their apprenticeship and beyond.” – Gaynor Maree
Big Sister provides ongoing support and mentorship to participants from qualified tradeswomen who work on the tools. The Big Sister Program is part of the Building Women’s Careers Program. The Building Women’s Careers (BWC) Program is funded by the Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.
Big Sister: Quality Skills, Career Pathways, Secure Jobs, Big Impact
Quality Skills
Big Sister provides contextualised pre-vocational courses to prepare women for apprenticeship placements. The program provides ongoing support and mentorship to participants from qualified tradeswomen who work on the tools
Career Pathways
Big Sister provides vocational counselling to 10% of secondary schools in WA and SA. The program delivers a range of events promoting and increasing the awareness about trade careers for all women
Secure Jobs
The energy trades provide women with meaningful, well-paid work. The Big Sister Program provides support for employers to build and maintain gender-inclusive, safe workplaces. And provides cultural competency audits for workplaces to ensure cultural safety is provided for First Nations apprentices who may be employed
Big Impact
Big Sister provides women with the skills needed for careers that will help drive Australia’s net zero emissions targetsFind out more about Big Sister and register your interest here