The maritime industry is highly regulated with a diverse range of occupations, business types, sizes and locations. The Commonwealth Government has signalled its intention to strengthen Australia’s maritime fleet by adding additional Australian flagged vessels.
The latest report into Australia’s Blue Economy, shows the marine industry is one of the country’s fastest growing. Tourism is the largest individual sub-sector of the marine industry, this is followed by the marine oil and gas sector followed by fishing. With these sectors growing it is placing pressure on enterprises to get qualified staff.
In a highly regulated, qualifications focused sector, this will present challenges in not only producing the required number of seafarers but co-ordination in the industry to ensure sufficient access to training berths on vessels can be secured.
The diverse workforce employs a range of occupations, with a gender composition of 29% Female / 71% Male in 2023 across 1,476 enterprises.
Maritime sector workforce planning and development
ISA collaborates with Jobs and Skills Australia, industry, unions, industry associations and Registered Training Organisations to identify workforce development needs and formulate industry workforce development plans that identify industry’s current and emerging skills needs, workforce development requirements at the national level and propose strategies in response to them.
The Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) system aims to provide individuals with work-ready skills for the labour market – skills that businesses and industries need to be highly productive and internationally competitive.
The Maritime Training Package meets the needs of the industry and regulator and provides nationally recognised Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualifications for the occupations including, Master, Marine Engine Driver, Marine Engineering, Integrated Ratings, Linesperson.
Careers
As an island nation we are tied to the sea. The Maritime industry is continually evolving and the demand for skills, both new and traditional, is ever increasing as new systems and technologies gain traction both onshore and at sea. A career in this sector can be stimulating, challenging and exciting and offers a great sense of pride and achievement for those with a passion for the sea. The industry has a high demand for skills as new systems and technologies gain traction both onshore and at sea. There are many diverse job and career opportunities on offer within the Maritime industry.
Your Industry Engagement Manager
Anna Jerrems
With over 20 years’ experience in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector, Anna has developed an extensive knowledge of the VET system. Her roles have involved RTO management, compliance, stakeholder engagement, and contract management. Anna holds qualifications in education and training, VET policy and auditing.
How to get involved
Great ideas to address these challenges and many more can come from anyone and anywhere. Whether you’d like to collaborate with us, share your ideas, get involved in our activities or simply stay informed, get in touch now to join us on the journey.