Switch 2 Infrastructure and Carey Civil Recognised at the 2026 Wellness in Infrastructure Awards

Carey Civil has won the Excellence in Wellness Small Business Award at the 2026 Wellness in Infrastructure Awards, held at Arts Centre Melbourne on 9 October. The award recognises Carey Civil’s partnership with Switch 2 Infrastructure, FSC’s wholly-owned social enterprise career-transition program for mid-career women moving into infrastructure. 

Civil construction remains one of the most male-dominated parts of the infrastructure sector. Carey Civil saw this as more than an equity gap: teams drawn from a narrow range of backgrounds can reinforce a culture of “toughing it out” rather than speaking up. The partnership with Switch was designed to treat gender balance as a wellbeing lever, opening a genuine pathway for women without a traditional construction background while building project teams where people feel safer to raise pressure, fatigue or struggle. 

Carey Civil placed four Switch candidates into contract administration roles on live projects. These were real roles, supported by Carey Civil champion Sam Cooper, who worked with Switch on candidate readiness and with project teams and leadership to make sure each placement was set up to succeed. 

The results speak for themselves. All four candidates remain in the industry. Two have graduated from the Switch program into permanent roles, one has moved to a further industry placement through Switch, and one continues with Carey Civil. 

Vanessa Byrnes, one of the candidates placed with Carey Civil, described her introduction to the industry as “welcoming, supportive and genuinely invested in helping me succeed.” 

Switch founder Ellen Connor said the program depends on employers willing to make that commitment. “Our program could not succeed without an employer partner like Carey being willing to genuinely commit. Without that backing, candidates transitioning mid-career into infrastructure have nowhere to actually land.” 

The award recognises that small and medium businesses, not only major contractors, can take on the risk of bringing in career-changers and turn it into a healthier, more supportive industry culture. 

Congratulations to Sam Cooper and the Carey Civil team, and to everyone at FSC involved in the Switch program.