Defence releases Naval Shipbuilding and Sustainment Plan

On what amounts to the final working day before Christmas, Defence has released its 2024 Naval Shipbuilding and Sustainment Plan and reaffirmed its commitment to continuous naval shipbuilding in Australia.

The Plan outlines the Government’s planned investment of up to $159 billion over the next decade through the Integrated Investment Program (IIP) that will see a significant boost to Australia’s maritime capabilities, including 55 newly announced vessels.

“The Government’s record investment in the maritime domain will deliver a much bigger and more lethal navy and an army that’s appropriate to our strategic environment,” according to Pat Conroy, the Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery. “This will make Australia safer.”

The Plan sets out a 30-year pipeline of construction and sustainment projects, largely across South Australia and Western Australia, including conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines, an enhanced lethality surface combatant fleet and landing craft for the Australian Army.

“Through the most significant investment in maritime capability in Australia’s history, we will see generations of naval construction projects happen right here, with plans to construct and upgrade over 70 vessels across South Australia and Western Australia,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles.

These decisions will create an intergenerational pipeline of naval construction projects that will support around 8,500 jobs in shipbuilding and sustainment by 2030, plus an additional 20,000 jobs over the next 30 years in support of Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine program, according to Defence.

The Australian Government is growing this workforce, including through:

• $1.5 billion to provide 500,000 Free TAFE and vocational education training places
• $250 million to attract, train and retain the nuclear-powered submarine workforce, including 4,000 Commonwealth supported STEM university places across Australia
• The implementation of the South Australia Defence Industry Workforce and Skills Report and Action Plans in partnership with the South Australian Government.

The coordinated growth of this workforce will be overseen by the newly established Maritime Workforce and Skills Council in close collaboration with partners from federal, state and territory governments, industry, trade unions and academia, Defence says.

Defence says it is also progressing detailed design and enabling works to deliver infrastructure upgrades for Australia’s maritime industrial base, including for the new Defence Precinct at Henderson in Western Australia and the Submarine Construction Yard at Osborne in South Australia.

To ensure the Government’s approach to shipbuilding keeps pace with the changing strategic environment, the plan will be updated on a biennial basis, with the next iteration scheduled for release in 2026.