Jenika Stubelj and Ash MacMahon’s social enterprise Amarapave is attracting, recruiting and training more females and non-binary people in the asphalt sector. The social enterprise, along with policy initiatives from Major Road Projects Victoria, is helping to break down stereotypes.
Construction in Australia has long been a heavily male-dominated industry. According to 2021 figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, women made up only 14 per cent of the construction industry workforce.
Understanding this is not a sector which can become balanced overnight, the Victorian Government has introduced several initiatives aimed at fostering more inclusivity.
This includes the recently published MRPV Roadmap Towards Gender Equity 2024-2027, which highlights the importance of recognising gender equity as a safety priority in hopes to prompt industry-wide collaboration, and enhance gender diversity in leadership.
This collaboration between Major Road Projects Victoria (MRPV) and the Victorian National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), outlines the goals and priorities to support increased gender equity across the civil construction industry.
Katrina Rio, MRPV, Director of Social Value and Inclusion, believes the roadmap is a significant milestone in marking a key step towards a more inclusive civil construction industry for everyone.
“This roadmap signifies a collective agreement to driving positive change in the construction sector in a collaborative way,” she says.
“It offers clear guidance and actionable recommendations to enhance gender equity, aligning with various State Government initiatives like the Building Equality Policy and the Victorian Social Procurement Framework.”
In hopes to generate a seismic shift in the asphalt industry where diversity thrives and inclusivity becomes the norm, long-time friends Jenika Stubelj and Ash MacMahon created Amarapave in 2023.
As Stubelj, Amarapave Managing Director, explains, the two first met on the footy field as fierce competitors.
They quickly discovered they shared more than just a passion for touch footy, uncovering an eagerness to abolish the gender biases they witnessed in their local social league.
“We bonded over the same attitude that it shouldn’t just be the boys getting the ball, it is about everyone getting an opportunity,” Stubelj says.
“We just wanted to prove a point that there shouldn’t be any bias in sport. And we’ve always had that attitude.”
Amarapave Field Director Ash MacMahon explains how the pair both noticed similar patterns emerging in their professional lives off the footy field.
“You’ve got to fight a lot harder as a non-male person to get the same opportunities in the industry that some of the males are getting,” they say.
Bonding over unfair injustices, the footy rivals soon turned into business partners, leading a team dedicated to driving positive cultural changes in the asphalt industry.
Through its unique operations, Amarapave passionately promotes gender equality by championing diversity and inclusion.
Aiming to break down barriers, bridge gaps, create role models and empower under-represented individuals to thrive and succeed, Amarapave strives to shape a future where everyone has equal access and the chance to participate in building Victoria’s key infrastructure.
Whether it be resurfacing, patching, overlaying or upgrading, Amarapave provides quality asphalting services, while abolishing gender-bias and empowering minorities in the industry.
“We are not changing the way we perform the technical asphalt trade. We’re changing the experience someone has coming into the industry,” says Stubelj. “We are a service where we can perform work ourselves, but we also provide services where we put people into existing crews.
Field Director.
“The best way to help break down those stereotypes is to show that we’re out there doing it. That changes people’s perspective and opens up conversations around people shifting what they thought was the norm.”
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Early initiatives within Amarapave’s business model included hosting monthly networking events to break down barriers of isolation which exist within the industry for non-male people.
“We’ve found that there are a lot of people that are interested in getting into the trade, but one big barrier is they don’t know where to start,” MacMahon says.
“All but one of our employees have come through our networking events.”
MacMahon says Amarapave is proud to be an entry point for non-male people looking to enter the sector, providing pathways for people who are starting off at an entry level.
“We have people coming in with no experience in the industry, and it is hard to get your foot in the door without any experience,” they say.
“Female and non-binary people want to learn; we already feel like we have a lot more to prove in the industry because of the gender stereotypes that exist.”
Amarapave has revolutionised the asphalt pavement industry by fostering a diverse and inclusive landscape for its staff, helping to avoid the difficult conversations both MacMahon and Stubelj faced breaking into the industry.
“I felt like it was a very overwhelming experience,” MacMahon says. “On my first day my foreman told me that I belonged in the office and not in the field. It was daunting coming in and being in that sort of environment.
“I’d love to say things improved, but they didn’t. Over time I did find people within that space that were allies and were very supportive.”
With bespoke training systems and tailored traineeships in the employees’ field of interest, Amarapave employees are provided with the same opportunity to learn and develop at a pace which is comfortable for them.
Operating for less than a year, Amarapave has been working to transform the asphalt industry across Victoria, partnering with Women in Construction and Jesuit Social Services, broadening the company’s community outreach.
Although its time in the industry has been short, Amarapave’s impact has been far reaching, developing a new generation of asphalters where diversity thrives.
With a narrowed focus on purpose over profit, Amarapave reimburses money back into the development of its staff and social purpose, creating more pathway opportunities for females, non-binary people and minorities in the industry. Although Amarapave is currently limited with its staff intake, MacMahon explains how the company will continue to grow its capacity for more candidates in the future.
“At the moment we have a lot of fantastic candidates but unfortunately not enough positions to place people,” they say.
“And I think part of that is due to the nature of the industry at the moment.”
On top of staffing expansion, Amarapave will continue its learning and development to expand on existing knowledge and skills while continuing work with the Victorian Government and MRPV on key projects.
“The tide has shifted, the government is implementing more policies that really force companies to take a look at what they’re doing internally,” MacMahon says.
“There is still a very long way to go in terms of seeing a more diverse culture out on the crews.
“For me, when we reach success is when the culture of our crews and the diversity in our crews actually represents the communities that we’re working in.”
Although the industry is not where the State Government would like it to be in terms of gender equality, its resources reflect a shift in the way the construction industry operates.
As Rio explains, the MRPV’s partnership with NAWIC has been instrumental in advancing MRPV’s gender equity initiatives.
“Key achievements from this partnership include the development of the Roadmap Towards Gender Equity, the establishment of gender equity minimum standards and requirements, and a collective agreement on the importance of gender equity,” Rio says.
“Additionally, it has promoted the inclusion of gender equity as a safety priority and encouraged collaborative efforts to build a more inclusive and supportive industry environment.”
Through the MRPV Roadmap Towards Gender Equity and the minimum standards and requirements, the State Government supports organisations like Amarapave in becoming a more inclusive industry.
“As a social enterprise focused on attracting, recruiting, and training more women and non-binary people, Amarapave benefits from an industry that actively promotes gender equity and inclusivity,” Rio says.
“These initiatives encourage industry-wide support for social enterprises like Amarapave and facilitate partnerships between our construction partners and social enterprises committed to gender equity and social procurement.”
This article was originally published in the September edition of our magazine. To read the magazine, click here.