Jo Farrell has taken her rage at the sexism of the building industry and turned it into a movement to encourage more women to find careers in construction across the country.

It’s often said that you can’t be what you can’t see – and that sentiment holds particularly true in the construction industry where women make up just two per cent of the industry.

In this episode of Ginninderry’s Inspire podcast, host and Head of Sustainability and Community Development Jessica Stewart sits down with 2024 ACT Australian of the Year Joanne Farrell to discuss her not-for-profit program Build Like a Girl and how it is promoting the recruitment and mentoring of women on building sites around Australia.

Jo describes creating Build Like a Girl to help vent her rage at inequities in construction and deciding to use that anger to change the system.

She will not accept an industry where women are still the subject of overt sexism and abuse, where the first-year female dropout rate for apprenticeships in construction is 72 per cent and where many women come to work on sites that don’t even have female toilets.

But Jo is also determined positive changes can occur. She discusses the role men can play in stamping out poor behaviour on building sites before it escalates and how women play a crucial role in helping fill the nationwide demand for workers.

She also discusses her passion for building things and how many opportunities there could and should be for all those wanting a career in construction, regardless of gender.

Watch more episodes of the Inspire podcast series on Ginninderry’s YouTube channel.