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.  

At AMSA  

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.   

We consult with industry bodies such as the Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) and give women leaders in maritime a platform to speak about their experiences, challenges, and successes.  

Additionally, AMSA executives sponsor a Diversity Working Group — a passionate volunteer-based group that develops, implements and monitors AMSA’s diversity and inclusion policies and initiatives. Our goal is to implement high impact and meaningful change to AMSA’s policy and practice. 

We have recently appointed an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Liaison Officer, who will guide AMSA’s efforts to strengthen relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples. She will work to ensure that AMSA follows through with our strategy to increase representation of Indigenous Australians at AMSA and include indigenous culture throughout our operations and community activities. 

 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 Inclusive Index Survey, which allows us to benchmark AMSA’s inclusivity against other council members across Australia. On 14 November 2022 we were announced as an Inclusive Employer. This is a proud achievement for us and recognises the commitment we have made towards building a stronger workplace culture. 

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.  

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

International initiatives 

We work closely with our neighbours in the Pacific and Indonesia to achieve sustainable change and gender equality in the shipping industry. The Pacific Women in Maritime Association is an advocate for gender equity promoting education, training and career opportunities for women, and we are delighted to support their work.  

AMSA has funded eight women from the Indo-Pacific region to undertake the World Maritime University’s (WMU) 14-month Master of Science in Maritime Affairs program. This program is a significant opportunity to enhance the technical, professional and leadership skills of women maritime specialists in the region. 

From the 27 February - 2 March 2023 AMSA hosted the 3rd Regional Conference for Pacific Women in Maritime (PacWIMA) located in Cairns Queensland.  

PacWIMA is a regional organisation established to further the aims of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in relation to gender equity and opportunities for women and girls to participate within the maritime sector.  Our participation in the PacWIMA conference is our commitment to furthering the goals of the IMO in relation to gender equity, with a specific focus on developing opportunities for participation by women and girls from the Pacific region. 


Maritime SheEO Conference 2021

AMSA Chief Executive Mick Kinley

In his keynote presentation at the Maritime SheEO Conference 2021 AMSA Chief Executive Mick Kinley shared his views on why gender diversity is so important for the future of the maritime industry. Watch his presentation to find out exactly how he believed gender diversity contributes to a stronger maritime workforce. 

 

 

 

 

Women in maritime webinar

On Thursday 18 March 2021, we held a webinar to explore the opportunities and challenges experienced by Australian women throughout their careers in the maritime sector.

Based on the experiences of a number of Australian women in the maritime sector, we discussed advancements in addressing gender equality, as well as opportunities for the sector into the future.

View the webinar and hear first-hand the stories and experiences from these women.