Regional chapters of the Mission to Seafarers in Australia say they may not be able to maintain services for international seafarers much longer because their volunteers are ageing, with the Portland chapter reporting fewer than 20 volunteers at an average age of 80. About 5,000 seafarers pass through the Port of Portland each year, and chapter manager Neville Mason said almost all of them use the welfare centre, which operates every day except Christmas Day from 11am to 10pm.
Ageing volunteers threaten Australian seafarer welfare centres, charity chapters say
Regional chapters of the Mission to Seafarers in Australia say they may not be able to maintain services for international seafarers much longer because their volunteers are ageing, with the Portland chapter reporting fewer than 20 volunteers at an average age of 80. About 5,000 seafarers pass through the Port of Portland each year, and chapter manager Neville Mason said almost all of them use the welfare centre, which operates every day except Christmas Day from 11am to 10pm.
Australia has signed the Maritime Labour Convention (2006), a United Nations charter stating that international seafarers should be able to leave their port for time on land. Ports are heavily regulated for safety and border control, and in many harbours around the world seafarers are never allowed to venture off their ships, so for thousands of international seafarers docking in Australia, shore leave is their only opportunity in months to set foot on land. Most ships docking in Australia are staffed by foreign workers.
Seafarer welfare centres are spaces near ports where crew can relax, socialise, use the internet, arrange transport into town, exchange currency or access medical care. In most Australian ports, the Mission to Seafarers provides support that includes a free shuttle bus, described as the only transport allowed. The Portland welfare centre includes a shop, prayer room and recreation spaces, and its shuttle bus runs every day except Christmas Day.
Mr Mason has worked in the Port of Portland for more than 20 years, driving the shuttle bus and running the Seafarer Welfare Centre. He said the Portland chapter once had plenty of volunteers but now has fewer than 20, with an average age of 80, and that two volunteers are needed per shift, one to run the centre and one to drive the bus. Portland's most dedicated volunteer, 91-year-old Ern Harrison, works five six-hour shifts a week.
Sailor Paul Gegremosa said the centre gave him his only opportunity to relax between months spent at sea. After a month-long journey from Japan, he had three days in Portland before his ship was due to head to China; he said he could not go onshore in Japan and did not know whether disembarking would be allowed in China.
Paul MacGillivary, the Australian ambassador for the global advocacy group Human Rights at Sea, said the volunteer model was unsustainable and that support for international seafarers had been left up to a charity organisation for too long. He wants Australia to introduce a system similar to New Zealand's, in which a portion of the government levies imposed on commercial ships docking is set aside to fund seafarer welfare services. The New Zealand system was introduced in 2024 and has contributed about $1 million in grants to seafarer welfare centres and transport services this year, according to the report.
A spokesperson for the federal transport minister said it is the responsibility of vessels, ports and Port Welfare Committees to ensure the workers' rights set out in the Maritime Labour Convention are met. Mr MacGillivary said the proposal to adopt a New Zealand-style model had been put forward for five years and had met huge resistance.
- The source does not state the date on which the reporting was carried out or the date on which the volunteer figures were compiled.
- The source does not state how many Mission to Seafarers chapters operate in Australia, or which chapters other than Portland expect to reduce services.
- The source does not state whether the federal government has responded to the proposal for a New Zealand-style levy-funded welfare model, or whether it provides direct funding for seafarer welfare services.
- The source does not state what Australian government levies on commercial ships currently fund or at what rate they are set.
- The source does not state how many seafarers dock in Australia annually beyond the figure of about 5,000 a year at the Port of Portland.
- The source does not name the Port Welfare Committees, describe their membership, or state how they are funded.
Read the original at ABC News Australia