Career change gifts acclaim for TAFE student Durney

TAFE NSW has announced Gabrielle Durney has been crowned with the prestigious Trainee of the Year award at the TAFE NSW Excellence Awards.

Currently a Structural Drafter at Northrop Consulting Engineers and a mentor for the Girls in Property program overseen by the Property Council of Australia, Durney has made the switch into the industry from retail.

Durney and other female counterparts make up just two percent of tradespeople in New South Wales. The state government hopes to increase this number, with success stories akin to Durney’s pivotal in ensuring the percentage of female tradeswomen increases.

“It's great to be a mentor for a program that captures young women at a critical career planning age,” Durney says.

“Hopefully we’ve got a few future leaders in construction.”

Durney has now completed her studies, gaining a Certificate IV in Engineering Drafting and a Diploma in Civil Construction Design. She secured a traineeship in Structural Drafting with Northrop Consulting Engineers six months into studying the TAFE NSW Certificate IV in Engineering Drafting.

“The traineeship required enrolment into the Diploma of Civil Construction Design, but Northrop supported me in completing the Certificate IV first,” Durney says about her early workplace experiences.

“There were some units that involved Autocad that I struggled to complete, and my mentor at Northrop organised another team member with experience with Autocad to help me complete the tasks.”