Women clad in G-string underwear could be clearly seen from the street opposite the construction site, which is adjacent to a Lutheran church and within walking distance of a school. 

The event, which began about 3pm, was held to celebrate the safe and successful construction of Canberra's tallest residential tower, Wayfarer. 

Geocon managing director Nick Georgalis, who said he was not at the site on Friday, stressed the event was not representative of the company's culture. 

"Whatever comes out of today is not going to be dismissed," he said.

"I need to re-evaluate what is acceptable for this sort of event to celebrate achievements. We want to be open and have a progressive attitude towards men and women."

Fairfax Media is aware of at least one worker who was uncomfortable with the presence of strippers at the work party. 

Unions ACT secretary Alex White said he was aware of other workers who were uncomfortable and said the event cast Geocon in a bad light. 

"It's a disappointing return of old practices from the bad old days 30 or 40 years ago," he said. 

"There are women on that site and this raises the question of whether they are comfortable at work. 

"There are also questions about the appropriateness of having entertainers on a construction site. This is a dangerous place and I hope the safety of those women was taken into consideration."

Worksafe ACT commissioner Greg Jones said he would investigate the matter with Geocon management early next week. 

"I am aware they closed their site to construction activity on Friday afternoon," he said.

"If the site was closed then there are no immediately apparent work and safety issues, but we will make sure we have a full understanding of what happened and why."

The boss of the construction company that brought topless and scantily-clad women onto the site of Canberra's tallest residential building on Friday has issued an apology for the "inappropriate entertainment", which has been condemned by Labor MPs.

The explicit entertainment on Geocon's Wayfarer apartments site in Belconnen came just four days after the company announced a three-year sponsorship deal with the ACT Meteors women's cricket team.

It was confirmed on Saturday that Geocon has also sought advice from former chief of Army and Australian of the Year David Morrison on how to overhaul workplace culture.

Geocon managing director Nick Georgalis said in a statement on Saturday morning the "topping out" event should have been a happy occasion where every worker could celebrate the end of construction of the highest point of the Wayfarer building.

"There was inappropriate entertainment at this event and I apologise unreservedly," he said.

"Clearly on this occasion we failed to properly consider how these celebrations might not be acceptable, or meet community standards more generally.

"It is certainly not reflective of the company's wider culture."

Women clad in G-string underwear serving beer at the work party, which began about 3pm, could be clearly seen from the street opposite the construction site, which is adjacent to a Lutheran church and less than one block from a school.

ACT Minister for Women Yvette Berry tweeted that she was speechless after learning of the women's presence, and had spoken to the company after emailing them on Saturday morning to request a meeting.

"This is terrible, shocking," she said.

"I've since had a conversation with Geocon, and they are very disappointed at what has occurred on their worksite, and they are very, very happy to work with me and with organisations I'll get in touch with next week."

Ms Berry said she was surprised by the presence of the women at the site, as she had attended Monday's announcement by Abode Hotels, a subsidiary of Geocon, that it would be providing accommodation for the ACT Meteors' interstate players for Canberra games.

"I know that they want to be a progressive organisation and be respectful to women and girls in the ACT; this certainly doesn't send that message," she said.

She said there were a number of feminist organisations in the ACT who offered a range of courses about gender equity and which could support Geocon and its employees.

"It's a real David Morrison moment," she said.

"Somebody had the courage to shine the light on that, and to make it public, and that gives us the chance to make the change."

Mr Morrison famously championed gender quality in the defence force and told soldiers "the standard you walk past is the standard you accept".

Ms Berry had earlier tweeted that she was invited along to Geocon's "topping out" event, but later clarified that she was invited to a company event next week, not the Friday workers' party.

She said she would "probably not" be attending that event.

"Not because of this issue, but because I'm not good with heights," she said.

Canberra MP Gai Brodtmann said she would be raising the issue when federal Parliament returned this week.

"I will be speaking about this in Parliament because it is completely unacceptable in 2016 and I understand the workforce was not consulted, they were simply told," she said.

"Imagine how the women on that worksite felt, especially when this event was meant to be celebrating their achievement."

A spokeswoman for the National Association of Women in Construction ACT said it was "unbelievable" an organisation allowed this on a worksite in 2016.

"You see an article like that and you feel like you have taken 10 steps backward," she said.

"It's a matter of respect for both men and women but particularly for women who are working on the site who just want to be seen as getting on with the job, it is just unconscionable."

The spokeswoman said she was not aware of any similar event on a Canberra construction site this century. The association would be happy to assist the company with education on diversity, she said.

Mr Georgalis said there were no safety issues arising from Friday's event, with the work site shut down 30 minutes before it began.

"All invited guests had been inducted onto the site previously or were signed in as per normal site procedures," he said.

He said he would cooperate with WorkSafe, which will be investigating the matter early next week.

- Matthew Raggatt

The decision by one of Canberra's largest construction companies to invite topless women onto a work site to celebrate the completion of part of an apartment block is alarming.

That such a celebration took place in the middle of a Friday afternoon in full view of the public and a short distance from a church and school is even more disturbing.

The incredulous attitudes of those who reacted to the news of the event showed just how jarring it is with the acceptable standards of behaviour in the ACT.

Notwithstanding the possible work safety issues of having visitors on a construction site, it is incomprehensible that this could have been seen as an acceptable form of celebration.

The end of construction of the top of what will be Canberra's tallest residential tower is certainly an occasion to celebrate – but opting to do so by giving workers strippers to ogle is certainly a questionable way of doing it.

In past years when the "boys will be boys" claim was used to defend all manner of unacceptable behaviour towards women it might have been different. But things have changed.

It is disturbing the company finds it acceptable to treat women as pieces of meat, and alcohol should have no place on any construction site.

How any company head thought this would be a good idea is unfathomable and makes a mockery of their support for women's groups.

ACT Minister for Women Yvette Berry is right to refer to it as a "David Morrison moment" – the former Chief of Army told his force that "the behaviour you walk past is the behaviour you accept".

More and more people are calling out actions they think are unacceptable and this is the only way to affect change in society.

Geocon managing director Nick Georgalis is right to apologise for the incident and in a statement claimed it was not reflective of the company's wider culture.

This is likely – it signed on to support the ACT women's cricket team only this week.

But the incident is an example of an attitude that still exists within society – not just in the construction industry – that treats women as objects and second class citizens.

At a time when the ACT government, police and community is putting so much focus on ending violence against women, this incident is a disturbing reminder of how hard it is to change attitudes.

- Editorial

canberratimes.com.au