Advocates step up as MLC turns 20 while Australian Government ignores sustainable seafarer welfare

Advocates step up as MLC turns 20 while Australian Government ignores sustainable seafarer welfare
21 Feb 26 https://www.humanrightsatsea.org/news/advocates-step-mlc-turns-20-while-...

On the 20thanniversary of the Maritime Labour Convention, Human Rights at Sea calls on the Honorable Catherine King, Australia’s Minister for Transport, to take action on the consistent provision of seafarer welfare services after an advocate has travelled the nation securing funding in the absence of federal government support.

The February announcement that Flinders Port Holdings has committed $200,000 to Mission to Seafarers is a reminder that, around Australia, welfare funding for seafarers is being driven not by national policy or coordinated planning, but by the determination of a few individuals and the goodwill of a handful of port operators.

One of those individuals is Sue Dight, Regional Director, Mission to Seafarers.

Dight has visited ports around Australia to raise money for the charity after being unsuccessful in her attempts to secure meaningful funding from the federal government.

Her efforts have produced a $2.5 million New South Wales Ports grant spread across four missions over five years, a new seafarer centre in Port Hedland funded by Pilbara Ports, and new buses for Southern Ports.

Now, Flinders Ports has added $200,000 over two years.

The money goes to support the needs of over 500,000 seafarers arriving each year onboard the ships that underpin Australia’s economic security and supply chain resilience.

To get time ashore, some sacrifice rest time, and many may have just a few hours to contact friends and family, shop, seek medical advice, or simply relax and enjoy a change of environment.

“Australian charities are very supportive, but they also face funding challenges, and some have not been able to maintain their usual operating hours or advance new initiatives in, for example, counselling and mental health,” says Paul MacGillivary, a long-time seafarer welfare advocate and currently a Human Rights at Sea Global Ambassador in Australia.

The Maritime Labour Convention (MLC, 2006) calls for the establishment of port welfare committees to coordinate welfare provision at the local level.

Without active committees, ports lack the governance structures required to assess needs, allocate resources, and ensure accountability, says MacGillivary. He was instrumental in setting up committees in Australia but now says no new port welfare committees have been established, nor existing ones revitalised, since 2022.

“Australia’s reliance on sporadic corporate generosity and individual advocacy is not a substitute for a national framework,” says MacGillivary. A modern maritime nation requires a coordinated, equitable, and transparent system for funding and delivering seafarer welfare services. This includes:

• a national funding model that ensures baseline support for all ports
• active, accountable port welfare committees in every port where welfare centres exist
• consistent standards aligned with MLC obligations
• mechanisms to ensure equitable distribution of resources.

“It is time for the Minister to demonstrate leadership at a national level and build a sustainable, equitable welfare system that reflects Australia’s responsibilities as a maritime nation and supports those people and organisations that are devoted to filling the current void.”