AMSA MLC enforcement – what this means for owners and operators
Within the last few weeks, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has released two publications which highlight important work it has done and will be doing on ensuring compliance with the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC).
The two publications are the Maritime Labour Convention Annual Report 2025 (the MLC Report), and the National Compliance Plan 2026-27 (the Compliance Plan).
The MLC Report offers fresh data on seafarer welfare complaints and compliance activity in Australian waters and on regulated Australian vessels during 2025. The Compliance Plan highlights key areas of risk identified by previous compliance activities, and the resulting priorities of PSC and FSC activities to be undertaken between 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027.
This client circular discusses some of the key aspects of the publications, and what these mean for owners and operators.
Background
Generally, the MLC provides the legal framework for seafarers’ working and living conditions on foreign-flagged vessels calling at Australian ports and Australian-flagged vessels operating internationally (regulated Australian vessels: RAVs).
Foreign-flagged vessels engaged in coastal trading are subject to different requirements. Seafarers on domestic commercial vessels are subject to separate local law requirements principally enacted under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth).
Verifying MLC compliance
AMSA takes a risk-based approach to calibrating its compliance activities to identify compliance risks, and to develop and implement appropriate strategies to address those risks using the powers available to it.
It verifies MLC compliance through several means, including by:
- responding to seafarer complaints
- conducting port state or flag state control inspections on board
The risks – from the MLC Report
Complaints – key statistics
- 169 complaints received in 2025
- About 60% of them came from seafarers themselves, with the rest from other sources like union representatives, welfare groups, and friends and family of seafarers
- Most complaints related to seafarers on bulk carriers (58.6%) – which roughly coincides with the proportion of Australian port calls by bulk carriers (about 52%)
- The bulk of the complaints related to vessels calling at Western Australian ports – 55 vs Victoria (27) vs Qld (25)
- Most common complaint: hours of work and rest (under Title 2 of the MLC)
- 28.4% of the complaints were resolved
- 23.7% of the complaints were found to be unsubstantiated
- 19.5% of the complaints resulted in deficiency notices being issued
- 39 vessels issued with deficiency notices
- 5 vessels detained
PSC and FSC inspections – key statistics
- 2,769 initial PSC inspections
- 1,185 MLC deficiencies (roughly 15% of PSC deficiencies)
- 12 MLC-related detentions
- 79 initial FSC inspections on 19 regulated Australian vessels
- 39 MLC deficiencies; no detentions
- Most common area of non-compliance (nearly 60%) – health protection, medical care, welfare, social security protection (under Title 4 of MLC)
The plan for 2026-2027
The Compliance Plan sets out the key areas of focus for the 2026-2027 year, which have been derived from data collected in the course of compliance activities in the preceding year.
In the context of MLC compliance, the following areas of focus and associated planned actions are relevant:
- Continuing FSC and PSC inspections targeting historically problematic vessels / operators – minimum of 2,400 PSC inspections, and FSC inspections on at least 80% of eligible RAVs
- PSC inspections to focus on hours of work and rest and the practical management of fatigue on board
What this means for owners and operators
Ensuring that seafarers have safe, decent working and living conditions is a shared responsibility across the industry. The responsibility on owners/operators far outweighs the potential disruption to operations that inspections and managing deficiencies may entail.
Consequences of non-compliance
The MLC Report and Compliance Plan provide some guidance for effectively dealing with PSC or FSC inspections in Australia with respect to MLC compliance.
If compliance is not managed appropriately, the resulting impact on vessel operations can be considerable.
AMSA has a deserved reputation for taking a robust approach to compliance and enforcement. This extends to banning vessels from entry into Australian ports. In the two months between March and April 2026, AMSA ‘banned’ three vessels from entry to Australian ports due to systemic underpayment of wages.
Other consequences may include:
- detentions
- financial penalties
- contractual liability for delay under relevant charterparties
- contractual liability for non-compliance with anti-modern slavery provisions commonly found in charterparties for Australian trades
Prudent measures
It would be prudent for owners/operators to implement systems that can readily demonstrate ongoing compliance with MLC requirements (in addition to the basic certification requirements – eg, Maritime Labour Certificate, DMLC Parts I and II, blue card issued by the P&I Club holding the vessel entry) and to be able to identify and swiftly address any non-compliances.
For port calls into Australia, and having regard to the MLC Report and the Compliance Plan, accurate and clear record-keeping is vital, including of:
- SEAs: secure copy of signed employment agreement accessible on board for review by the inspecting officers; details of conditions of employment readily accessible by seafarers on board
- Wage records: accurate and current statements showing at least monthly payments of wages and other agreed entitlements including overtime, bonuses, allowances, and paid leave; records of home allotment nominations; monthly accounts provided to individual seafarers of payments due and paid, including home allotments, and exchange rates used
- Service records: properly signed and stamped service book / discharge book on signing on and signing off; properly completed and signed record of service for vessel
- Leave records: updated and accurate individual leave balances, accrued and taken leave; documented shore leave policies and approval processes
- Hours of work/rest records: accurate and current work/rest records; fatigue management policies
Automated electronic record systems allowing for regular monitoring and automated alerts flagging potential non-compliances must be regularly audited to ensure the associated records are secure, up to date, accurate, and regularly backed up to allow access even if there are system failures.
Download briefing in PDF: Client briefing – AMSA MLC enforcement
This publication is intended only to provide a summary and general overview. It is not intended to be comprehensive, nor does it constitute legal advice.