Naomi White from the daily Telegraph recently wrote this article on tow of JSI’s best – Flavia Teixeira (second from left) and Lucy Minter (second from right)

After declaring it a top priority yesterday at a meeting with women working in construction, Ms Goward said she hoped to see more women in hardhats and fluorescent vests working in the traditionally male dominated engineering, telecommunication, automotive and construction industries.

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show 90 per cent of workers in the construction industry are male, but first year carpentry apprentice Rosa Hollows, 21, said she was unfazed working in such a male-dominated field. Continuing the pioneering spirit of her late father Fred Hollows, she is the only woman in her classes at Randwick College but said construction was a great trade for women.

“I love being challenged and the maths and everything behind it, I love being able to build my own things with my hands,” she said.

“And I want to be able to help build hospitals and schools and all that kind of stuff with my dad’s foundation,” she said.

First year plumbing apprentice, Jessica Gardiner, 25, said women were definitely in the minority and she was yet to come across another female plumber. She said some tradesman have been surprised when she turns up at a job.

“But after the initial shock and I get into it, I’ve had nothing but positive feedback, they’re really, really good about it,” she said.