Establishing a strategic maritime fleet of Australian vessels

We’re seeking input on what the strategic needs are for a strategic maritime fleet for Australia.

Why we want your input

The Australian Government has appointed a Strategic Fleet Taskforce to guide establishing a maritime strategic fleet. The Taskforce has released a discussion paper seeking your input on what strategic purpose a strategic maritime fleet could fulfil.

How you can voice your opinion

Read the discussion paper and respond to the questions. Click the ‘Have your say’ button below to submit your views by Wednesday 30 November 2022. You can also email any feedback to SFConsultation@infrastructure.gov.au

What will be the outcome of this consultation?

The information you share will be used to assist the Taskforce to determine how a Strategic Fleet could make the most difference to Australia’s national interest. Your submission will help inform interim advice provided by the Taskforce to Government by the end of 2022.

The Issue

Australian cargo vessel at wharf

The Government has committed to establish a Strategic maritime fleet to strengthen our economic sovereignty and improve national security. The fleet will likely consist of up to a dozen Australian-flagged and crewed vessels that will be privately owned, operate commercially and be available for requisition by the Government in times of national crisis such as natural disaster or conflict.

On 20 October 2022, the Hon Catherine King MP, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications announced that an independent Strategic Fleet Taskforce had been appointed to guide Government on the formation of the fleet as quickly as possible.

The Taskforce is guided by a Terms of Reference, which establishes a two-phase approach for the delivery of advice to Government. The first phase will report on high-level strategic objectives for the fleet by the end of the year. This will include an assessment of Australia’s current and future shipping needs; the types of disruption that may occur and their effect; and identifying what strategic purposes a fleet should achieve and where the Government can best position itself for influence and have a level of control.

To assist this first phase of the Taskforce’s work, you are invited to provide a submission responding to the questions outlined in the below discussion paper.

Relevant documentation

Strategic maritime fleet – Discussion paper

Strategic maritime fleet – Discussion paper (356.88 KB)

Strategic maritime fleet – Discussion paper (148.01 KB)

Participate

16 Nov 2022 09:00 AEDT

07 Dec 2022 23:59 AEDT

Closed

You are invited to provide a written submission responding to the questions provided in the discussion paper. The period for submissions closes on Wednesday 30 November 2022.

Please include the following information in your submission:

Contact name and details

Organisation name

Confirmation of whether or not your submission can be made public (uploaded) or kept confidential.

All submissions to be made public need to meet the Digital Service Standard for accessibility. Any submission that does not meet this standard may be modified before being made public.

If your submission is to be made public, please ensure you do not include any personal information that you do not want to be published.

If your submission is confidential, please ensure each page of the submission is marked as confidential.

Please click on the 'Have your say’ button below to upload your submission.

This consultation is closed.

Alternatively, you can provide your submission to SFConsultation@infrastructure.gov.au

Or send a written submission to:

Strategic Fleet Policy Section

Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts

GPO Box 594

CANBERRA ACT 2601

Australian Privacy Principle 5 Notice

Strategic Maritime Fleet

The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (the department) is collecting information for the purposes of consultation as required by the Terms of Reference for the maritime strategic fleet taskforce, in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988.

The department will use this information to inform consideration of issues associated with establishing a maritime strategic fleet of Australian-flagged and crewed vessels and will store this information securely. It may be used by the department to make further contact with you about the review.

The department will not disclose information to third parties, except in the circumstances outlined below.

Submissions, in part or full, including the name of the author may be published on the department's website unless the submission is confidential. Confidential submissions (including the author's name) will not be published. Private addresses and contact details will not be published or disclosed to any third parties unless required by law.

Submissions will only be treated as confidential if they are expressly stated to be confidential. Automatically generated confidentiality statements or disclaimers appended to an email do not suffice for this purpose. If you wish you make a confidential submission, you should indicate this by ensuring your submission is marked confidential.

Confidential submissions will be kept securely and will only be disclosed in the following circumstances:

in response to a request by a Commonwealth Minister
where required by a House or a Committee of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia
where required by law.

The department may also disclose confidential submissions within the Commonwealth of Australia, including with other Commonwealth agencies, where necessary in the public interest.

Please note that in order to protect the personal privacy of individuals in accordance with the Privacy Act any submissions containing sensitive information, personal information or information which may reasonably be used to identify a person or group of people may not be published, even if not marked as confidential.

The department’s privacy policy contains information regarding complaint handling processes and how to access and/or seek correction of personal information held by the department. The Privacy Officer can be contacted on (02) 6274 6495 or by email: privacy@infrastructure.gov.au