About the aids to navigation network
Australia’s aids to navigation network (AtoN) supports safe maritime navigation around our mainland coastline, offshore islands and key shipping routes. It protects lives at sea, supports trade and safeguards the marine environment.
We are responsible for maintaining around 480 aids to navigation, working closely with state and territory partners to ensure the network is resilient and fit for purpose.
The network includes a range of assets, such as:
- lighthouses
- lit and unlit beacons
- buoys
- power and communications systems
- meteorological and oceanographic (metocean) sensors.
Key dates
We will soon release a tender for the next round of delivery of maintenance services for Australia's aids to navigation network. Current contracts are due to expire June 2027.
The process will commence in July 2026, with new contracts expected to commence in January 2027 and a service delivery start date of 1 July 2027.
What the tender will cover
The upcoming regional contracts will seek qualified contractors to deliver:
- outage response and fault rectification
- essential maintenance including electrical work, general building, structure and grounds maintenance.
A separate national technical support contract will cover:
- centralised technical support
- logistics coordination
- specialist services supporting the national aids to navigation network.
Regional delivery
The existing regions have been reduced from eight to seven for the new tender round, combining the previous Torres Strait Metocean region into Region 1. The revised regions will be:
- Region 1 – North Queensland (ETC1 area of operation and MetOcean)
- Region 2 – South Queensland
- Region 3 – New South Wales
- Region 4 – Victoria and Tasmania
- Region 5 – South Australia
- Region 6 – Western Australia
- Region 7 – Northern Territory
The regional network is supported by:
- the contracted national technical support provider
- our in-house expertise in engineering, information technology and navigation.
Contract terms
- Regional maintenance contracts are for an initial 5-year term, with extension options of 2 + 1 years
- The national technical support contract is for an initial 5-year term, with extension options of 2 + 1 + 1 years.
Work health and safety accreditation
The Work Health and Safety Accreditation Scheme (the scheme), established under the Federal Safety Commissioner Act 2022, ensures high standards of work health and safety across Australian Government funded building and construction projects.
The scheme applies to 'building work' that is carried out under a contract with a value of $4 million or more (GST inclusive) that is directly funded by the Commonwealth or a Corporate Commonwealth Entity.
Due to the longer term of the next round of contracts, we have assessed that some regions may exceed the $4 million (GST inclusive) threshold. Prospective tenderers should note that we cannot execute a contract that includes building works with a value exceeding $4 million (GST inclusive) (for the initial 5-year term) unless the contractor holds accreditation to the scheme at the time of execution.
We sought clarification from the commissioner in relation to application of the scheme to regional contracts. Our summary of the advice received follows.
While most AtoN maintenance activities do not constitute 'building work', certain activities such as replacing glazing or structural fasteners, meet the definition under the WHS Accreditation Scheme. This is because these involve the repair of a structure that forms part of land and would be captured under sub-Section 6(1)(a) of the Federal Safety Commissioner Act 2022.
Under the scheme, head contractors require accreditation where the entity entering into the contract undertakes the building work themselves and the contract has a value of at least $4 million (GST inclusive).
Accreditation is not required for head contractors who do not directly perform building work and subcontract all building‑related activities. Subcontractors require accreditation only if the value of subcontracted building work reaches the $4 million (GST inclusive) threshold.
Prospective tenderers should visit the Federal Safety Commissioner's website to review the obligations outlined in the Federal Safety Commissioner (Accreditation Scheme) Rules 2023 and relevant fact sheets there to determine if accreditation to the scheme is applicable for their proposed contracting arrangements, particularly:
- Applying the scheme to directly funded building work (PDF, 211KB)
- Definitions of 'builder' and 'building work' (PDF, 338KB).
Next steps
We encourage interested parties to monitor AusTender for the release of further details in July 2026.