Abbey Paxton changed careers after a horse riding accident, walked into a TAFE classroom at 30 with two kids at home, and has since renovated her first house. Her story is exactly what the construction industry needs more of. And there has never been a better time to tell it.
Abbey Paxton did not plan to become a carpenter.
She grew up in the Northern Rivers watching her father build things, developed an instinct for working with her hands, then spent years in community services work. A horse riding accident changed that. Unable to continue in her previous role, she looked at what she actually wanted to do.
The answer was carpentry.
At 30, with two children, she enrolled at TAFE NSW Wollongbar in a Certificate III in Carpentry. She needed flexibility. She got it. By the time she finished, she had also renovated her first house.
“Growing up around my dad, a builder, I quickly fell in love with working with my hands and the idea of being resourceful. TAFE NSW not only helped me hone my woodwork skills and build my confidence, but it also gave me support and flexibility when I started my family during my studies.”
That is the version of this story worth starting with.
Not a government press release. Not a minister quote about workforce pipelines. A person who made a real decision, used the infrastructure that exists, and built something with it.
Because right now, during National Careers Week, the construction industry has a genuine opportunity to talk about what a trade career actually looks like. Most of it is not taking that opportunity seriously enough.
What the Numbers Actually Say
The backdrop to Abbey’s story is real and significant. Jobs and Skills Australia forecasts total employment growth of around 6.5 per cent over the next five years, adding close to one million jobs across the economy. Construction sits firmly within that demand.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, carpentry and the broader construction trades are among the highest-paid practical occupations in the country, with weekly earnings for qualified tradespeople reaching close to $1,960.
That is not a bad argument for a career change. Or a first career. Or a conversation with a school leaver who has not yet decided.
The problem is that those numbers are not the story that reaches people. The story that reaches people is the one the industry has largely failed to correct.
What the Industry Gets Wrong About Recruitment
The default narrative around trade recruitment tends to focus on two things: the shortage problem and the financial upside.
Both are real. Neither is particularly compelling on their own.
The shortage story says: we do not have enough tradespeople. That is a problem for employers and for housing supply. It does not tell a prospective apprentice what their day-to-day looks like, what career progression is available, or what kind of business they could build for themselves in ten years.
The financial upside story says: you can earn good money. Also true. But wages are competitive across a lot of industries now, and money alone does not explain why someone should choose a trade over any other path.
What actually works is specificity. Real stories. Real outcomes. What does the work look like on a Tuesday? What do you know after five years that you did not know before? What can you build, literally and figuratively, with this skill set?
Those are the stories that convert interest into enrolment.
TAFE NSW’s Role in the Northern Rivers
The Wollongbar campus in the Northern Rivers has been running construction training for decades. The region itself is under significant housing pressure, driven by sea change migration from Sydney and Brisbane that accelerated through the pandemic years and has not fully reversed.
More housing demand means more construction work. More construction work means more demand for qualified tradespeople. That pipeline only functions if people are actually entering training and completing it.
TAFE NSW’s structure, combining short courses, online components, face-to-face delivery and industry work placements, is designed to meet people where they are rather than requiring them to fit a rigid schedule. For career changers, parents returning to work, or people in regional areas with limited options, that flexibility matters.
It does not solve every barrier. Cost of living, tool costs, the gap between apprentice wages and full trade rates, transport in regional areas: these remain real friction points that training providers cannot fully resolve on their own.
But the infrastructure exists. The question is whether the industry is making enough use of it.
The Narrative Problem Is Real
At The Good Builder, we have said before that construction has a perception problem that it has largely created for itself, not through bad work, but through silence.
The industry does not talk loudly about the builders who trained six apprentices last year and kept every one of them. It does not publicise the tradespeople earning strong incomes, running their own businesses and building serious careers. It does not show the 17-year-old what their life could look like at 35 if they stay with a trade and develop it properly.
Meanwhile, every builder collapse makes the news. Every housing crisis headline reinforces the idea that construction is unstable. Every horror story about client disputes or project failures gets amplified, while thousands of completions delivered on time and on budget go unacknowledged.
National Careers Week is a good starting point. It puts the conversation in front of people who might not have considered a trade, and that matters. But the industry has an opportunity to build on that momentum year-round, not just when the calendar prompts it.
The good news is that a lot of this is already happening. Builders are getting into local schools. Suppliers are investing in apprenticeship programs. Industry bodies are developing resources that go beyond press releases and into the practical detail of what a trade career actually involves. There is genuine energy here, and it is worth recognising.
The opportunity is to make it louder, more consistent, and easier for people outside the industry to find.
And it means more stories like Abbey’s. Real people, real choices, real outcomes.
What Builders Can Do Right Now
There is no single fix here. But there are practical actions worth considering.
If you run a building or trade business, consider whether you have an active relationship with your local TAFE or training provider. Not just as a source of labour, but as a genuine partner in developing the next generation of qualified workers. Show up. Offer work placements. Talk to students directly about what the work actually involves.
If you have apprentices or trainees, think about how you are supporting them through the process. Retention is as important as recruitment. The industry loses too many apprentices before they complete because the experience on site does not match the promise at enrolment.
And if you have a success story, whether it is your own or someone on your team, share it. Not as a promotional exercise. As a genuine contribution to the conversation about what this industry can offer.
Abbey Paxton made a decision that most people in her situation would not have considered. She walked into a TAFE classroom at 30, with a young family, in a trade that still does not have nearly enough people who look like her. She completed the course, gained the skills, and renovated her first house.
The construction industry needs thousands more decisions like that one.
The question is whether it is doing enough to make that decision feel possible for the people who have not made it yet.
General Information: This article is intended for informational purposes. Workforce projections are drawn from Jobs and Skills Australia forecasts and publicly available ABS data referenced in source materials.
0 Comments