Bella Rogers fell into carpentry a decade ago when her uncle called to find out if any of the boys in her year would be interested in an apprenticeship with his Canberra-based building company.

Ms Rogers, then aged 19, had accepted a place at university to study fine arts, but decided to take a gamble.

"I didn't want to study … and this was a chance for a different aspect of creativity. I thought, 'well why not ask if I can give it a try?'," she said.

With the support of her uncle and cousin, Ms Rogers completed her apprenticeship at TAFE where she was the only woman among 500 carpentry applicants and the first female in the course to graduate in eight years.

Ms Rogers, who has now had eight years in the industry, said the culture was "still way behind".

"I was assaulted by a colleagu

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