Women In Trades Campaign – TAFE SA

29 November 2021

The Try a Trade program, run in consultation with the Construction Industry Training Board, included carpentry, tiling, painting and decorating and wWhite Card activities over four days.

Try A Trade reinforced TAFE SA’s support for women in non-traditional trades and coincided with the start of a new marketing campaign designed to grow participation in pre-apprenticeship (Certificate II) trades courses.

The marketing campaign includes a digital and social media focus on female heroes – TAFE SA graduates working in industry.

Overall, there are 756 female students currently enrolled in courses at TAFE SA’s Tonsley Campus, which provides world-class trades training infrastructure for the building and construction industry.

The top five courses for female participation at the Tonsley Campus are the Diploma of Interior Design, Certificate IV in Interior Decoration, Diploma of Building Design, Certificate IV in Building Design Drafting and Certificate III in Electrotechnology Electrician.

Role models for aspiring female tradies include painting and decorating apprentices Nicola and Chany.

Nicola Moss, TAFE SA painting and decorating graduate, has won gold at this year’s WorldSkills National Championships. Nicki is an apprentice for Mcalister Painters and thinks the best part of the job is using all the skills you’ve learnt and then stepping back to enjoy the incredible transformation you’ve just created.

“Painting and decorating have been present in my life from a very early age. My dad is a painter and decorator, as was my grandad. From a young age, I got to see how high class decorative skills could highlight the true beauty of old buildings, and I fell in love with that,” says Nicki.

Another TAFE SA painting and decorating apprentice, Chany, previously worked as a qualified chef, but the pandemic steered her career in a new direction. Chany is now working for Hills & Country Painting and loves being part of a team. In the future, she hopes to work on heritage-listed buildings.

“You don’t know what life has in store for you, so when you have a chance at a good opportunity, you take it.”

“My house is like a collection of vintage things, so I know that I want to do heritage work in the future. As a painter, I like seeing the results and restoring its original style.”

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Nicola Moss, TAFE SA Painting and Decorating graduate, won gold at this year's WorldSkills National Championships.
Chany, painting and decorating apprentice at TAFE SA