The NextGen Construct program on the Suburban Rail Loop saw four female students gain the opportunity to work on a major transport and housing project alongside their studies. Here we chat with Sarina Yim about how taking part helped her decide on a career in construction
If you are a high school student thinking about the next steps towards further education or entering the world of work, it can be a daunting process to decide on a particular training path, particularly if you know very little about what opportunities are out there and the skills required.
Melbourne’s Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) project, managed by the Suburban Rail Loop Authority (SRLA), is creating a rail line that will link all major train lines from Werribee in the west to Frankston in the south east, in a loop that curves around the middle suburbs.
In efforts to engage young women in construction as an attractive career option, Victorian high school girls were given the chance through an innovative training program to experience life on the first stage of the project – SRL East.
SRL East is seeing the construction of 26km of twin tunnels and six new underground stations between Cheltenham and Box Hill.
Delivered in partnership with construction contractor Laing O’Rourke, the Victorian government’s Head Start program – which supports students to participate in school-based apprenticeships and traineeships – and Holmesglen TAFE, the NextGen Construct program saw four Year 11 students gain hands-on work experience.
The NextGen Construct program saw the four students paired with mentors and undertake two days of work a week on the SRL over a two-year period, with the program hours contributing towards a Certificate III in Business.
“The students rotated through eight industry areas, from engineering and safety to commercial and human resources,” SRLA says.
“Upon completion of the traineeship, each student was offered an internship or Certificate IV full-time job in their chosen area.
“SRL is a multi-decade project that will deliver a long pipeline of secure employment – supporting up to 24,000 local jobs and helping to train the next generation of skilled workers. At least 10 per cent of all hours worked on SRL will be done by apprentices, trainees and cadets, with hundreds of opportunities for women.”
Learning on the job
Sarina Yim, who was 16 at the start of the NextGen Construct program, was one of the four young women who have been participating in the traineeship over the past two years.
She says that she was put forward for the program by a teacher at her school – offering her an alternative path to the hair, beauty and makeup course that she had been studying.
“I wasn’t enjoying the hair, beauty and makeup course as much as I thought I would, so, when the careers counsellor talked us through the NextGen Construct program and what would be involved, it sounded really interesting and I decided to go for it,” Yim says.
“My sister worked with Metro Trains Melbourne as part of the South Eastern Program Alliance for Level Crossing Removal Project and she said that this was a great opportunity, so I wanted to give [working on a major transport project] a go like she did.”
After completing the two-year program, Yim is now working part-time as an office co-ordinator for Laing O’Rourke, undertaking tasks such as onboarding staff, ordering PPE and maintaining equipment registers.
“While undertaking the training here, I have definitely changed in terms of developing my career but also personally. It was a great opportunity for me, and I’m glad I took that leap of faith.
“I like the work culture and how diverse and inclusive they are.”
Having a mentor to help her through the program was an important part of the experience, Yim adds.
“Starting out as somebody who didn’t know much about the industry, learning about the different teams who are involved in a project like Suburban Rail Loop was really interesting,” she says.
“My mentor was always there to answer my questions and help clarify things, which was very helpful.
“She has done so much to teach me about the industry, but also how to develop myself personally. I’ve learned how to communicate with people that are different ages and have different backgrounds. It’s been a fantastic experience.”
Promoting female participation
Alongside the NextGen Construct program, with its aim of encouraging female students into the construction industry, SRL will also feature a world first initiative – the development of an all-women tunnel boring machine (TBM) crew that will help carve the SRL East twin tunnels.
Almost 900 women applied to be part of SRL’s world first all-women TBM crew delivering the first stage of tunnelling, with the assessment process currently underway. The TBMs will be arriving on site later this year and tunnelling will start in 2026.
With major construction on SRL East underway, initiatives focused on training young women in the industry will be offered by the tunnelling contractors Suburban Connect and Terra Verde – providing more opportunities to encourage women to work on the project and join the industry.
Yim says taking part in the NextGen Construct program was an excellent opportunity to help set her on a rewarding career path.
“I would tell other students to definitely take the opportunity if you can, because you never know what you do like or what you don’t like until you give it a go,” she says.
For more info, visit: bigbuild.vic.gov.au/projects/suburban-rail-loop
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