We are proud to celebrate the achievements of women in maritime and drive awareness of the issues facing women to help achieve gender equality in this male-dominated industry.  

Our progress

At AMSA, we have reflected on our progress towards gender equity, and we're proud to say that we have:

• completed 88% of planned activities under our Gender Equity Action Plan 2022-2027
• been certified compliant with new Workplace Gender Equality Agency reporting requirements
• launched a Gender Neutral Language Working Group to create, encourage, and implement gender neutral language in our sphere of influence in the maritime sector
• been recognised as an Inclusive Employer for 2023-24 by Diversity Council Australia
• co-hosted a major event to recognised International Day for Women in Maritime.

We have more work to do, and we are committed to being a leading example for industry.

Learn more about our efforts to invest in women and accelerate progress. 

Our initiatives

We invest in a range of measures to remove barriers to workplace participation and build an inclusive culture for all women. 

We deliver training, workshops, and seminars that provide opportunities for women to advance, including our Women in Leadership mentoring program.  

Educating on gender diversity issues and providing a truly supportive environment is key to achieving change. We are exploring options to establish better facilities and more flexible policies to support staff with carer responsibilities.   

Additionally, AMSA executives sponsor our Diversity Working Group and its sub-committee the Gender Equity Working Group (GEWP). Working closely with our Human Resources Team, these staff groups develop, implement and monitor AMSA’s diversity and inclusion policies and initiatives. Our goal is to implement high impact and meaningful change to AMSA’s policy and practice. 

Our Gender Equity Action Plan 2022-2027 is progressing well, with 88% of commitment met and the remaining 12% scheduled for work programs in 2024-2025. The GEWP will review the plan in 2024 in order to extend our goals leading up to 2027. We have implemented a family-friendly flexible workplace policy, and have established a Gender Neutral Language project to ensure our communications do not include gendered terms.  

 AMSA has also implemented a ‘Respect the workplace’ policy, which requires our employees to treat each other with respect, recognise the efforts and achievements of others, to be inclusive, and accept and value the differences of others. And to back this up, AMSA has committed to a zero-tolerance policy for inappropriate conduct with anonymous feedback systems to encourage employees to speak up. 

We also took part in the Diversity Council of Australia’s (DCA) 2023-2024 Inclusive Employer Index Survey, which allows us to benchmark AMSA’s inclusivity against other council members across Australia. AMSA was successful in gaining inclusion on the DCA’s Inclusive Employer Index. This is the second time AMSA has achieved this accreditation and we are proud to have been included on the index on both occasions. This is a celebrated achievement for us and recognises the commitment we have made towards building a stronger workplace culture. 

To accord with the updated Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012, following the Respect at Work Report (2021), we have submitted information on gender pay gaps, gender equity policies and initiatives to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) and have been certified as compliant with reporting requirements. 

Stewardship for the maritime community

Aside from our gender equity work within the agency, AMSA is committed to working as a steward on behalf of the maritime community to promote the increased inclusion of women across the sector.

We actively promote the International Maritime Organizations’ annual International Day of Women in Maritime. We work with industry bodies such as the Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) and Nautical Institute to organise a major event to raise and seek solutions for issues in maritime gender equity. These events are recorded and are available on this website. gThese events give women leaders in maritime a platform to speak about their experiences, challenges, and successes. Importantly the events provide the opportunity to engage male champions to assist with enacting change.  

We have included gender equity standing items at our national industry consultative committees, the National Safety Committee and the Shipping Consultative Forum. This ensures we keep this vital issue front of mind in the development of policy and procedures, as well as gaining industry input and engagement for gender equity initiatives.

Domestic scholarship programs

In 2020, AMSA established its Scholarship Program, designed to award students with financial assistance and opportunities to enter the maritime industry, in recognition of their potential and high achievement.  We also have an annual scholarship for women students studying a Bachelor of Engineering at the University of Tasmania in their third year.

The program helps build skills and support future maritime professionals, as well as encouraging young women to develop a career within the maritime industry.