Balancing the Scales One Truss at a Time - International Womens Day Special

 

The 2026 International Women's Day theme, Balance the Scales, asks us to consider not just whether women are present in an industry - but whether they are truly supported, seen as capable, and empowered to thrive within it. 

 

For Jacqueline Goodwin, Director of A.G. Trusses in Western Australia and Victoria, those scales have been something she has been determinedly tipping for her entire working life - one roof truss, one building site, one stride at a time.

 

 

Women make up approximately 15% of the construction workforce in Australia, with less than 3% working on the tools - a figure virtually unchanged since the 1990s (source from Victoria's Big Build). In the frame and truss sector specifically, the picture is even more niche: a tightly held, largely family-run industry where, as Jacqueline puts it, most women arrive not through recruitment drives or career pathways, but through the family business. Jacqueline is one of those women. And, what she has done with that beginning is anything but accidental.
 

Jacqueline grew up on building sites. Her father started the family truss manufacturing business over 40 years ago, and for Jacqueline and her siblings, the factory floor, the yard, and the construction site were extensions of home.

"I come from a long line of builders. My dad and my grandfather were both builders. Dad started manufacturing trusses over 40 years ago, so building sites have been second nature to me. Back when safety wasn’t a critical issue, I was running around on weekends playing in the bricky sand… always very hands-on."

 

 

That upbringing sparked more than just familiarity with the industry - it ignited a genuine love of design. Jacqueline had dreams of becoming a graphic designer as a teenager, drawn to the visual, creative side of things. She attempted a civil engineering degree, but the realities of running a family business meant she needed to work. What emerged instead was something just as technically impressive: a career as a detailer and designer in the frame and truss world, working in 3D modelling and complex structural drafting.

 

"When you design components that construct something, because really a truss is a big meccano set, and you start seeing things come together and create something awesome, I started designing probably in my teens, still at high school… through my 20s and 30s, designing and loving the drafting aspect as well… the crafting and design component actually becomes quite fun. It's not just triangles and squares, it's all these little details that create something bigger." Today, Jacqueline works alongside her family, wearing the many hats that family businesses demand - from accounts and scheduling to manufacturing, machinery, design, and site support. She also came on to the FTMA Australia Board recently, engaged with the wider industry conversation, at a time when the sector is experiencing genuine momentum.

 

 

When asked about the role family support has played in her career, Jacqueline is unequivocal - it has been everything. "My entire family… you couldn't ask for more support. I've made mistakes. But you learn from them, and they never stopped supporting me because of them." Jacqueline reflected on what her path might have looked like without that foundation - and it speaks directly to the challenge facing women across the construction sector who don't have the same scaffolding around them. She also recognises the importance of the AG Trusses working team “That foundation extends beyond family. I’ve been fortunate to work alongside a strong and capable AG Trusses team, with a shared commitment to quality, problem-solving and working cohesively.”

 

Ask Jacqueline whether it has been hard being a woman in this industry, and she gives a nuanced, honest answer. Not hard, exactly, because of the support - but never without an extra layer of effort required. She spends significant time on site, supporting the installation of trusses and wall frames, believing firmly that the supply chain depends on keeping the carpenters happy and technically supported. In that environment, she has navigated the well-worn terrain of gendered assumption.

 

"When a man and a woman both turn up on site, the expectation would be that the man knows what he's talking about. If a woman turns up on site, there's a doubt, a question mark. You have to make sure you establish early that you know what you're talking about, or you’re strong with the technical details."

 

 

It is a dynamic familiar to women across the construction industry. An Australian 2022 NAWIC survey found that 75% of women in construction had experienced gender-based adversity in their careers, with many reporting they had been doubted, disrespected, or judged in their field because of their gender. The experience of having to 'earn the room' - to prove competence before it is assumed - remains a persistent tax on women's working lives. Jacqueline acknowledges the flip side, with humour: sometimes being the only woman on site works in her favour. The novelty can open doors. But she is clear-eyed that this is not the same as equity.

 

One of Jacqueline's most passionate observations is about the invisibility of the frame and truss sector as a career pathway - particularly for women. "People don't know about this industry. People just expect trusses to land on site. They don't know how much effort and design work goes into producing something like a fully prefabricated timber system … A lot of the women involved in this industry are family members who have just fallen into the role… I'd love to see recruitment drives, university open days, people saying ‘this is actually a career path’. That would bolt on to making sure that truss and frame designers have legitimate qualifications, because there's a lot of good ones and a lot of poor ones, and we're all tarred by the same brush."

 

Jacquline notes that there are female engineers, female architects and drafters, women in scheduling and contracts - but in the specific world of truss and frame detailing, the numbers are low. The path in is obscure, and without visibility, it is almost impossible for women to know to look for it. This is something the industry has a real opportunity to address. The upcoming launch of the Introduction to Timber Systems Designing course, is one step in that direction. 

 

 

When asked what she is most proud of, Jacqueline speaks not of projects or business milestones, but of relationships. "I'm most proud of the relationships I've developed along the way. We have a strong record of supplying long-term clients, and I genuinely like working with the people I work with. I like working with my clients… the guys on site… When you have strong relationships with people, there's nothing you can't overcome together."

 

And her advice to women struggling to find their footing - those facing barriers, unfairness, or self-doubt - is grounded, warm, and hard-won. "You won't gain anything by being scared. Everyone is scared and anxious about putting themselves out there, but you'll never gain anything if you don't try. Once you try a little bit and push yourself out of your comfort zone, it will be easier to try just a little bit more every single time. Everybody makes mistakes. I don't care who they are. No one knows everything about everything, so there is always an opportunity to learn. There’s always an opportunity to do better. Just because you made a mistake doesn’t mean that it’s all over. How you manage, and pick yourself up and move on from that, that is also character building."

 

For Jacqueline, the IWD 2026 theme of Balance The Scales is not abstract. It is lived daily - in the navigation of work, motherhood, running a business, and modelling confidence for her daughter. "For me, [balancing the scales] means work, skills, motherhood, school drop-offs, children. I’ve got a teenage daughter. Balancing what I do daily and invest in my working life and then going home and showing her confidence and all those things. It's just such a difficult thing, particularly as a woman and the mother of a daughter."

 

 

Jacqueline reflected on the conversation around how gender equity is framed - what she wants is for women to be hired because they are genuinely brilliant, and for the pathways to exist that allow brilliant women to find their way in. "There are so many smart women out there who could do this… I think it's a confidence thing, how you project yourself. It's a very tricky, balanced scale. It’s about education, it’s about support, upskilling yourselves."

 

 

Despite the challenges, Jacqueline is energised about where the frame and truss sector is heading. New technology, 3D design capabilities, automation, a booming housing market - all of it points to a sector with enormous opportunity for people who want to build things.

"Our industry is booming at the moment, well it is in WA… In the last five years, what's happened in terms of how industries have changed, the expectations, the automation coming in, it's awesome. It's exciting to be part of it at the moment."

 

That excitement, combined with an industry that is slowly but genuinely becoming more visible, more professional, and more open to diverse talent, is where the hope for progress lives. The scales won't balance themselves - but women like Jacqueline Goodwin are doing the work, day by day, truss by truss, to shift the weight.

 

Jacqueline, thank you for your time and for your honesty in sharing your journey. It is a privilege to tell stories like yours - stories of capability and grit - at a time when the industry needs them most. Here's to the next generation of women who will find their way into frame and truss because someone like you made the path a little more visible.