Canberra construction sites lack basic sanitary facilities for women workers

On construction sites across Canberra, women are leaving their jobs to find a toilet. Not because they want to—because there isn't one on site. They walk off the work, find a public facility somewhere nearby, and walk back. Time lost. Productivity interrupted. A basic human need treated as an inconvenience.

Carly Dewey has spent more than 15 years in construction and has watched this happen to workers on other people's sites while she makes sure it doesn't happen on hers. As director of Temperley Homes, she insists on separate male and female toilets with serviced sanitary disposal bins at every project she runs. It costs about $150 a week to hire the facilities, plus a bit more for servicing and transport. She sees it as a line item, like any other job cost. "We make up half the population," she said. "We should be in construction." But she also understands why others don't do it. Residential construction has tighter margins and smaller crews than commercial work. The economics feel different when every dollar counts.

Electrician Lainey Morgan has worked across both residential and commercial sites in Canberra and has seen the full spectrum. Some sites now provide sanitary products, which she welcomes. Others, she said, you're lucky if there's even a portable toilet. When facilities are inadequate, she ends up leaving the site to find public bathrooms, which fractures her workday and her focus. But the practical problem—lost time, reduced output—is not the deepest one. The real issue, she said, is cultural. Early in her career, when she was the only woman on some sites, speaking up about missing facilities felt impossible. "Unless I had personally said something, which can be really intimidating to speak up about, then there would just be no facilities," she recalled. "They're almost like criticised for discussing something like basic needs." Both Morgan and Dewey want facilities to become automatic—something built into every site setup, not something women have to negotiate or request.

The law already requires it. Worksafe ACT has a code that mandates employers provide toilets and washing facilities that are clean, safe, maintained, and accessible to all workers. ACT Work Health and Safety Commissioner Jacqueline Agius said her inspectors have documented serious breaches. Workers have reported being unable to change sanitary products in private, unable to wash their hands. Portable toilets on residential sites are often poorly maintained. When inspectors find violations, they issue legal directives to fix them. But Agius also noted the problem extends beyond construction—her office has fielded complaints across multiple industries over the past year.

The industry is beginning to shift. Master Builders ACT, the peak body for the sector, has launched a program called Level the Site that works with employers to build gender-inclusive workplace culture, including ensuring sanitation facilities are in place. Chief executive Anna Neelagama framed it plainly: appropriate facilities make workplaces safer and more productive, and they help grow the female workforce in construction. The conversation is moving from whether women belong in construction to how to make the conditions actually work for them. For now, though, on some sites in Canberra, women are still walking off the job to find a toilet.