Queensland has set a new national record for the number of women entering the construction industry.

Queensland has set a new national record for the number of women entering the construction industry.

Queensland has set a new national record for the number of women entering the construction industry.

According to data released this week by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), Queensland has achieved the highest-ever number of females enrolling in a construction trade apprenticeship of any state or territory in the country.

Furthermore, according to the data, the overall number of female construction apprentices in the Sunshine State is larger than at any other time in recorded history, with 1,048 women now enrolled in the programme.

As a result of this new growth rate, the proportion of female construction apprentices in training in Queensland has more than doubled from approximately 1.5 per cent in 2010 to more than 4 per cent of all apprentices. This is significantly higher than the national average of slightly more than 3 per cent.

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Sukh Sandhu

Executive Director

Sukh has been working in the VET and Higher Education Industry for over 25 years. In this time, he has held several roles with RTO's and Higher Education Providers (HEP) including CEO roles for International Colleges and National Compliance and Quality Assurance Manager roles for several RTO's, TAFE's and Universities. Sukh has also worked for the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) as a Business Systems Project Official. Sukh is a Canadian permanent resident and Australian citizen.

Sukh has had extensive project management experience in risk management, compliance, administration and as a training consultant. He has extensive knowledge in government compliance standards and has participated in nearly one hundred audits across Australia and provided consultancy advice regarding ASQA/VRQA, TEQSA, ACPET, DET-HESG, VQF/Higher Education, ELICOS, NEAS, ANMAC, AHPRA, CRICOS, ESOS and ISO.

Sukh is a member of several independent professional organisations and government bodies including, ACPET, VELG, ACS, AITD, MARA, MIA, ISANA, APEX, IEEE, The Internet Society (Global Member), AISIP, IAMOT, ACM, OISV, APACALL, IWA, Eta Kappa Nu, EDSIG and several others.

Sukh's qualifications include two MBAs, three masters in IT and systems, a Graduate diploma of management learning, Diploma in training design and development, Diploma in vocational education training, Diploma of work, health and safety, Diploma of Quality Auditing, Advanced diploma of management, Advanced diploma in marketing, human resources, information technology, and a number of other courses and qualifications. He has been working as a lecturer and as a trainer and assessor since 1998, Sukh has been a vocal advocate of audit reforms and system centred auditing practices rather than auditor centred auditing practices for many years.