THE PRIMARY function of the Australian Mariners Welfare Society (AMWS) is providing financial support to Mission to Seafarers, Apostleship of the Sea (Stella Maris) and other organisations delivering seafarer welfare services around Australia. This gives AMWS a direct view of both the value of Australia's welfare network and the financial pressures under which many providers operate.
AMWS agrees that seafarers should be recognised as skilled professionals with dignity and agency. Recognising seafarers as professionals should strengthen the case for welfare support, not weaken it.
Through our financial grants, AMWS helps to ensure basic services such as transport, connectivity and shore facilities are provided so that welfare organisations can give support when it is needed.
These aren't handouts given because AMWS believes all seafarers are poor or destitute. Rather, they help maintain the welfare infrastructure required because the nature of international seafaring creates needs that ordinary shore-based workers generally don't face.
As Shipping Australia CEO Capt Melwyn Noronha said in his message via LinkedIn on the International Day of the Seafarer 2026: “Seafaring is now, always has been, and probably always will be a remarkably difficult job owing to the physical challenges, exposure to the marine environment, the high-risk nature, and, of course, separation from family, friends and culture.”
In this regard, the Seafarer Help 2025 Annual Review compiled by ISWAN is relevant. It found a 35.9 per cent increase in contacts relating to mental health concerns compared with 2024, reaching the highest level ever recorded. While helpline data cannot by itself measure the wellbeing of the entire global seafaring workforce, it demonstrates an ongoing need for welfare support.
The Review offers a unique insight into the realities of life at sea through thousands of confidential helpline conversations. They reveal the sustained emotional toll from life at sea and the pressure of balancing responsibilities on board with concerns about family life at home.
It is timely therefore to consider the survey from the international organisation Human Rights at Sea (HRAS), which found a clear need for more secure seafarer welfare support in Australia.
In its Briefing Note: Survey of Seafarer Welfare Provision in Australia (April 2026), HRAS found that Australian seafarer welfare services continue to provide communication, transport, shore facilities, pastoral care, emergency aid and rights-related information. These are rarely provided by the industry for seafarers.
Survey responses from ports including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Fremantle, Port Pirie and Bell Bay indicated that while the services were valuable, they were not on a consistently secure footing, especially in regional areas which often relied on ageing infrastructure and dwindling numbers of volunteers.
For AMWS, these findings underline the importance of sustained and shared national support for the organisations and volunteers who help seafarers during Australian port calls.
It is heartening to recognise some positive recent developments. The NSW Seafarers Welfare Fund, and the recent announcement from Pilbara Ports of a two-year grant and in-kind support worth about $1.1 million, are both practical examples of the industry taking a more infrastructure-focused approach to seafarer welfare.
Pilbara Ports is also funding the construction of the new $21 million Port Hedland Seafarers Centre, with the cost ultimately to be shared across major port users. Pilbara Ports itself describes this as a core part of safe port operation.
AMWS welcomes the Pilbara Ports investment because one of the recurring Australian welfare problems is that support varies dramatically between ports. The five-year, $2.5 million NSW Seafarers Welfare Fund has also made an important contribution to NSW maritime charities, but long-term welfare access, particularly in regional areas, remains inconsistent and dependent on geography, coordination and funding.
The provision of sustainable shore-based welfare requires shared participation from the organisations whose operations depend upon seafarers. AMWS agrees seafarers should be viewed as professionals — and one way to demonstrate that is by treating their welfare as part of the maritime infrastructure that the industry helps fund.
This opinion piece is a contributed article. Any views or opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of DCN.