On 20 December the Commonwealth Government released the 2024 Naval Shipbuilding and Sustainment Plan (NSSP). This document outlines the Government’s investment of up to $159 billion over the next decade through the Integrated Investment Program (IIP). This includes 55 newly announced vessels.
The NSSP articulates 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.
The plan if fully executed 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.
Previously the Commonwealth Government announced initiatives to grow 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.
The Commonwealth Government is also progressing detailed design and enabling works to deliver multi-billion-dollar 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 NSSP will be updated on a biennial basis, with the next iteration scheduled for release in 2026.
A copy of the 2024 NSSP can be downloaded at:
https://www.defence.gov.au/about/strategic-planning/2024-naval-shipbuilding-sustainment-plan
