Austal Australia Reviews

I haven't really had any promotions as of yet, however, the ability to work around and help any team out is an amazing feature of being a graduate with Austal. You can simply opt for work from anyone despite being assigned to a particular department.

We have a corporate giving branch called Austal Giving, which is our CSR branch. We have many initiatives that we support, from supporting men's mental health through organisations like the Spinnaker Health Foundation to providing funding and support for counselling services for children experiencing domestic violence in disadvantaged areas through Young Hearts. We have run clean-up days for the local community, made donations to local businesses to purchase training equipment such as iPads for coastal lifeguards, participated in hunger relief charity events (FoodBank), running company-wide raffles to raise money to support Kimberley region flood victims, site tours for students in disadvantaged areas, donation of food products, milk, medical supplies, cleaning supplies, household items such as bleach and toilet paper and soap to charities, as well as support for the Djaalinj Waakinj Ear Portal program - helping to provide support to Aboriginal children suffering ear infections at no cost. These are just some of the many things Austal has done for the local and wider community, of which a few of these items I have personally been involved with as one of the committee members for Austal Giving. Unfortunately, not many people are aware of the work that we do in this space, so it wouldn't be surprising that it is quite unheard of.

Culture within the company can vary quite a lot between different departments and teams, so there is not a uniform experience (for both good and bad aspects). During office hours the majority of the time it is a quiet and focused environment, with a very open structure/hierarchy meaning managers are accessible and willing to discuss matters with staff of all levels. Teamwork is high as it is necessary to rely on each other to resolve issues - the provision of information needed to get the job done. Department as a whole socialises well and mostly everyone puts in an effort to interact with each other, but it is not forced so everyone is able to operate at a level that best suits them personally without feeling obligated or ostracised.

The company puts in a significant amount of effort in giving equal opportunities to all candidates. Regularly there are events run by the people and culture team here to promote women's rights, LGBT+ community representation and acknowledgement of different cultures. I would believe each department would have its own prevailing attitude based on those who work there so I cannot speak for them all, but in my experience Austal will make an effort to recognise other cultures - an example recently was to usher in the Chinese New Year, CNY stickers and decorations were put up around the office, and traditional salad tossing involving the entire department was carried out involving every staff member. Such examples of celebrating different cultures is quite common here. We have had outreach to schools in disadvantaged areas, offering site tours and explaining the work that we do and the potential career opportunities available at Austal. As a company with a large tradesforce, there are many opportunities to attract applicants from less privileged backgrounds who may not have had the opportunity to go to university, giving them opportunities to start working at a company full time. There is upwards mobility within the company as well. Austal has many cases of raising its workforce through from apprentices to program managers and other leadership positions.

I receive tasks and work which I either work independently or work with other experienced engineers to aid in completing a larger project.

Very approachable managers, they care about their staff. Tend to be very approachable and you do not feel like a hierarchy is restricting you from accessing them. They make good mentors, willing to educate and share their knowledge, and are invested in giving employees the opportunity to undertake further study to improve their skills. Performance feedback is given at all levels of duties given, as well as praise. They are realistic about their feedback - they will be frank when constructive criticism is necessary, but they do not shy away from giving praise for a job well done.

Sufficient, but the buildings are showing their age. Dress code is quite relaxed across the business, although each department is different. As a shipbuilding company with offices on site, the dress code is not as strict as say, a financial firm in the CBD. In corporate it is business casual, however company uniforms are available in polos, which are very popular across all levels of management. Every Friday is casual Friday, so you can essentially wear what you'd like (within reason).

The interview has a welcoming atmosphere while still challenging me to present myself as myself and to show that I have the technical knowledge there are looking for.

Can't complain as it is the industry standard package for graduates, however, personally I wish it was more than what it is currently. With time it does increase as I understand within the graduate program itself, in set roles I am not sure on how bonuses and pay works. Uncommon, but the experience to go on sea trials for the boats as they do final adjustments and testing prior to delivery to the customer. This can include rigorous testing that the boat will not usually see, such as going from standstill to max speed as quickly as possible and testing of the ride-control systems on board. This can include activities such as rocking the boat as much as possible. You will not get this experience on most boats this size even if you paid money for it, so this is definitely a hidden perk that not many talk about (although, admittedly not such a great perk if you get sea sickness).

On the job training is very practical, a lot of it is picked up as you go along. Formal training is professional and mostly helpful, but it is designed specifically with engineers in mind so not all educational opportunities will be relevant, however they do make a purposeful effort to include everyone where appropriate, choosing training courses that provide general skills that can help everyone across the business. It is not bad, but there is room for improvement hence the score. However, they are very supportive of external training to acquire qualifications relevant to your discipline which is worth noting.

We work a 9-day fortnight, so office hours are generally ~8:30AM - ~5:00PM Mon-Fri, then Mon-Thurs with every second Friday being an RDO. Graduates who do a rotation in Production will come in earlier around a ~6:30AM start and finish early around ~3:30-4PM to better match the work hours of the production floor.

Austal Giving supports initiatives that aim to reduce our society's overall environmental footprint, and the business is transitioning towards sustainable energy sources for our boats - however as a big "contractor" essentially, this is reliant on the demands of our customers first and foremost. We have developed and are still continuing R&D on sustainable commercial ferry alternatives to diesel and gas, and this seems to be the trend that the commercial ferry market is following. We could be doing more in this space, but as mentioned previously it is dependent on the demands of our customers as well as that we have yet to hit a critical mass where alternative fuel sources are commercially viable. We also produce ships for the Navy, and in their case they are unlikely to shift to renewable energy sources without extensive testing in a military environment, so for the foreseeable future the defence side of the business is likely to lag behind the commercial side, of which we have proposals and designs we are confident of.