Maritime Skills Pipeline Project

Skilled workforce shortages pose a major challenge for Australia’s Maritime industry.

• The Maritime Skills Pipeline Project aims to design and validate an agreed Maritime Skills Pipeline Model for the Australian maritime industry. 

Led by Industry Skills Australia, the initiative aims to strengthen Australia’s maritime workforce by:

• Establishing an agreed national framework for mapping existing and planned initiatives to build the maritime workforce.
• Driving collaboration and co-ordination between the national skills system (jurisdictions and agencies), regulators and key stakeholders to optimise investment and minimise duplication of effort.
• Working to strengthen actions and initiatives to address occupational shortages and develop a sustainable maritime workforce.

The project is being delivered in close collaboration with Commonwealth and State Government agencies, industry stakeholders, and regulators to ensure maritime training packages meet current and future needs. This project also supports recommendations 9, 11 and 13 of the Australian Government Response to the Strategic Fleet Taskforce Final Report.

Key deliverables of the Maritime Skills Pipeline Project include:

• Identifying and reviewing effective approaches to attracting, skilling, and retaining maritime workers.
• A research paper outlining effective national and international maritime workforce development policies and practices.
• Stakeholder engagement with the maritime training sector, unions and employers to confirm maritime skill requirements to be delivered by the national training system.
• Insights to inform the Strategic Maritime Workforce Committee and National Maritime Skills Network on barriers to training and delivery.
• A Consultation Summary paper capturing collective views and findings on training policies, delivery methods, mutual recognition of skills, and simulation technology.
• Designing a draft Maritime Industry Skills Pipeline model and implementation recommendations, validated by industry and regulatory stakeholders.

Engagement with maritime and education sectors is central to this project’s success. Industry Skills Australia is engaging with maritime employers, industry bodies, unions, regulators, and government agencies.

Stakeholder engagement aims to ensure the skills pipeline model reflects real-world needs and supports the development of a sustainable, skilled maritime workforce. Feedback will shape recommendations relating to policy settings, training products, and delivery approaches to address critical skills shortages and support strategic national initiatives.

The draft Maritime Industry Skills Pipeline is due to be submitted to the Federal Department of Employment and Workplace Relations in December 2026.

19 February 2026

The Working Group Expression of Interest closed on Thursday, 19 February 2026.

5 February 2026

ISA is seeking maritime industry leaders to join a Joint Maritime Project Working Group to codesign the development of a Maritime Skills Pipeline and a national Revalidation & Recognition of Current Competence (RRCC) Model.

These are priority actions identified in the Maritime Industry 2025 Workforce Plan to accelerate access to seafarers and grow national maritime capability to support the establishment of the Strategic Fleet and the needs of the broader industry that are in progress under ISA’s Maritime Skills Program.

The time commitment is approximately 4-6 meetings per year from late February 2026 until June 2027 and may include out of session reviews as required.