Establishment of the AMSA Seafarers' Welfare Advisory Committee

The shipping industry depends on the seafarers that crew the ships of the world’s commercial fleets. The welfare of those seafarers is a major factor in the safe working and operation of the industry. However, until early last decade, there had been little in the way of a coordinated national approach to this vital human aspect.

In 2002, the Federal Government provided a grant of $100,000, which was matched by the International Transport Workers’ Federation, to establish the National Seafarers' Welfare Advisory Council (NSWAC). NSWAC was established to inter alia encourage, coordinate and support the development of port welfare committees. In 2006, NSWAC ceased operating; however, the Port Welfare Committees that were created during its tenure have survived.

Regulation 4.4 of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC) calls for the establishment of welfare boards at the port, regional and national level. It is seen as beneficial therefore that AMSA take the lead in establishing the new Committee in accordance with the same aims that NSWAC had in 2002, plus the additional objective of developing channels of communication aimed at facilitating the effective implementation of the MLC.

An initial meeting of the Committee was convened in Sydney on the 28th of October 2009 with representatives from the Apostleship of the Sea, Mission to Seafarers, Australian Shipowners Association, Ports Australia, Shipping Australia, International Transport Workers’ Federation, Australian Mariners Welfare Society, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and AMSA.

With the Committee now in place, contact will be madewith the Chairs of existing Port Welfare Committees, and also key welfare providers in those ports where PWCs (or similar) do not exist, but where it has been identified that there is a need for better-resourced or more cohesive seafarer support services.