Helping women enter, stay and thrive in skilled trades

Tradeswomen Australia Community Foundation supports women to build secure, rewarding careers in skilled trades, with a particular focus on women experiencing financial, social or other barriers to participation. 

Our work recognises a simple reality: opening the door into a trade is not enough. Women also need the financial resources, networks, mentoring, workplace support and opportunities that make it possible to stay and succeed.

What we do

Tradeswomen Australia Community Foundation provides practical support around the points where women are most likely to be excluded from, or leave, a trade career. We work with women, communities, schools, training providers, employers, philanthropic organisations and industry partners to create pathways into skilled trades and support women once they get there. 

The cost of starting and completing an apprenticeship can be a significant barrier. Through the Tradeswomen Australia Apprentice Financial Aid Scholarship Program, we provide financial support to women who may otherwise struggle to remain in their apprenticeship. Funding can help meet the practical costs of building a trade career — from tools and equipment to training.

Financial assistance alone does not address every barrier. 

Tradeswomen Australia connects women with mentoring, practical guidance, networks and additional support to help them navigate their apprenticeship and workplace experience. 

Our approach centres lived experience. Women benefit from connection with people who understand the realities of working in industries where they remain significantly underrepresented. 

We create opportunities for women to understand, experience and enter skilled trade careers. 

This includes: 

  • career awareness and exploration 
  • trade tasters and practical experiences 
  • apprenticeship pathways 
  • connections to employers and training providers 
  • job placement support 
  • employment preparation and guidance 
  • referral and connection to community support where required. 

Tradeswomen Australia has deliberately shifted the conversation from recruitment alone to retention. Women who enter skilled trades can still encounter isolation, exclusion, workplace culture issues, financial pressure and limited access to people who understand their experience. Our emerging retention model brings together mentoring, peer connection, practical support and links to inclusive employers to help women stay and build long-term careers. 

No one organisation can provide every form of support a woman may need. We build partnerships with community organisations, education and training providers, employers, industry and philanthropy so women can access coordinated support rather than navigate disconnected systems alone. These partnerships are particularly important for women experiencing disadvantage and for women in regional communities where employment, training and support options may be limited. 

Visible tradeswomen change what other women and girls believe is possible. We create opportunities for tradeswomen to share their experience, act as mentors and ambassadors, participate in events and help build the next generation of women in skilled trades.  This strengthens individual confidence while challenging the persistent idea that skilled trades are careers for men. 

Legal Information and Status

Tradeswomen Australia Group is comprised of Tradeswomen Australia and Tradeswomen Australia Community Foundation. Tradeswomen Australia Community Foundation is a subsidiary entity of Tradeswomen Australia; Tradeswomen Australia is a sole member of Tradeswomen Australia Community Foundation. The Tradeswomen Australia Board appoints the Board of Tradeswomen Australia Community Foundation. Tradeswomen Australia is a not-for-profit entity. Tradeswomen Australia Community Foundation is a not-for-profit deductible-gift-recipient charity.

Community Foundation