To do a full day’s labouring on a construction site can be very heavy-going

Sure but construction is not the only renovation/house repair based job available, it's just the first one I mentioned

Looong ago when I was a student and shared a flat with other students we kept the rent low exactly by doing that, painting the place, fixing bits and pieces

This is slightly different, you said you were a student which meant you were studying, which is what she should be doing, either studying or learning or making herself valuable for a job

There is no shortage of jobs, in fact we apparently are needing more people because:

Economists say it suggests the economy is still operating close to capacity.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-19/unemployment-rate-australia-january-2026-steady/106362428

So if she is disabled or has some medical condition they should mention this, otherwise hearing someone going out of their way to do everything but get a job means nothing to me