Teras Australia, a local vessel operator
for Singapore’s Ezion group that holds a
50-year lease on Port Melville in the Tiwi
Islands, north of Darwin.
“We’re manning three vessels and two
supply bases and expect to fill another 50
positions in 2015,” Bergmann says of the
Teras Australia contract.
From 2016, AML will also be the exclusive
Indigenous content provider for tugboat
operator KT Maritime in a 10-year contract
with the Shell Prelude FLNG project.
“Our involvement will be in developing
an Indigenous recruitment and employment
strategy, staff mentoring and delivering
a sustainable community engagement
model, but we’re in discussions to increase
the opportunity there. We are ready to get
more involved in the contracting side as
well,” Bergmann says.
Seizing these new opportunities largely
comes down to AML’s training efforts.
In the late ‘90s and early 2000s, AML
shareholder Dean Rioli was making a
name for himself at Essendon Football
Club, but these days his focus is on
kicking goals in Indigenous employment
and education outcomes.
“My message as a footballer was
to get a good education and become
independent by setting yourself up in a
career. So it was just a natural flow for me
to go from football to helping Indigenous
people find employment,” says Rioli, who
played 100 games for Essendon Football
Club before retiring in 2006.
Becoming involved with AML a year
ago, Rioli spearheads its pre-employment
and labour hire activities, working closely
with his brother Jeremy Rioli, who is a
director of AMSIC and also a shareholder
and senior Indigenous mentor with AMM.
“We run a 28-day program that gives new
employees the skills to work on a vessel.
That’s when our masters, engineers and crew
really step in and mentor the Indigenous
guys which is a huge benefit,” he says.
“About 15 Indigenous guys have
worked for us for over a year now,
with substantial onshore and offshore
experience. These employees will also
go on to mentor future Indigenous
employees.”
Many of AML’s Indigenous staff have
cultural connections to the sea, including
a group from the Tiwi Islands, who all
successfully completed the AMSIC pre-
employment training.
“We never set anyone up for failure, so
for us to have a 100 per cent completion
among Tiwi Islanders just goes to show
the program works,” Rioli adds.
“No doubt it will be different for every
community that we enter, but we feel that
My message as a footballer was to get a good education and
become independent, so it was just a natural flow for me to go
from football to helping Indigenous people find employment.
we have the structure in place to make
sure the program is set up for Indigenous
people to succeed.”
Nationally, AML has maintained a 96
per cent pass and retention rate among
program participants. When asked what
impact it will make in the offshore resources
maritime sector over the next few years,
Rioli and Bergmann are equally optimistic.
“For me, it would be fantastic to see
a greater number of Indigenous people
become engineers and masters in the
industry,” Rioli says.
Bergmann adds: “We have a track record
now of being able to train a workforce and
deliver professionally in this environment.
“Our medium term vision is to joint
venture with a number of tier-one
companies, but it’s also about finding the
right partners who believe in what we are
trying to achieve.”
RP
Dean Rioli
Jeremy Rioli (L) mentors
Indigenous seafarers
RESOURCE
PEOPLE
SUMMER 2014-15
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