A refrigeration technician is one of three tradespeople selected by the Tradeswomen Australia (TWA) Community Foundation to be part of a promotion on a Melbourne tram.
Jennah Halley from Cairns, who was Australia’s apprentice of the year in 2022, is shown larger than life on the ‘Women Succeed in Trades’ tram now running on the Melbourne tram network.
The tram was created by undergraduates from the Swinburne Design Bureau with support from the Yarra Trams Community Partnership Program, which provides in-kind advertising to charities and not-for-profits.
Tradeswomen Australia chief executive officer Clea Smith said the tram addressed the problem that women are held back from trades because ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’.
The fully wrapped tram shows real women succeeding in trades – Jennah shares the mobile billboard with a successful electrician and a professional gardener.
ARC chief executive officer Glenn Evans said it was a great boost for the climate control sector that a refrigeration technician was chosen as one of the three featured trades.
‘It’s fantastic to see our industry represented in this way, and we are delighted to see Jennah Halley becoming a prominent face for female fridgies,’ he said.
‘Thanks to Jennah, and to Tradeswomen Australia, we are showing young women that not only can they pursue a trade career, but they can do it in the refrigeration sector.
‘ARC data analysis shows the number of female fridgies has tripled in the past three years, and 55% of them are under 29 – this tram can only help to boost those numbers further.’