The Port of Brisbane launched an Australia-first cadetship program to encourage and support talented women to embark on a maritime career, helping to boost female participation in the industry. Women make up approximately 2% of the world’s maritime industry workforce, and they have traditionally not been encouraged or enabled to pursue work in the maritime industry, particularly sea-faring posts.
The cadetship program is a 24-month paid employment and training program within our Marine Operations team. The Marine Operations team performs a critical role in maintaining navigable access for vessels in and out of the Port and its berths. The program offers full-time roles with working hours designs to be compatible with cadet’s other life commitments. Cadets start out in a hands-on entry level role, spending most days working on vessels within our support craft fleet whilst working towards obtaining their Master <24m qualification. Prior to the intake of our four cadets, the marine operations workforce included only one female. This program has been instrumental in raising the profile of marine opportunities for women and has increased female participation in our marine operations team from to 3 to 11%.