ASC recognises it’s people are critical to its vision of remaining an enduring and
integral part of Australia’s maritime strategy.

ASC recognises attracting, retaining and developing the right people is critical to it’s vision of remaining an enduring part of Australia’s maritime strategy and national security.

ASC’s workforce numbers remained steady in 2019/20, with 1,345 employees across our sites in SA and WA.

In 2019/20 ASC’s Human Resources function was rebranded to ‘People and Culture’ and made significant changes to its service delivery model which provides a more strategic focus through the Business Partner operating model. The new model includes specialist functions to the team:

• Organisational development and remuneration;
• Employee engagement and communication;
• Diversity and inclusion (D&I);
• Change management;
• Workforce planning, development and recruitment;
• Learning and development and data analytics; and
• People and culture operations.
• The Workplace Health Safety and Environment team was incorporated into People and Culture to recognise the importance of employees in our safety journey.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

Key achievements in 2019/20 included:

• Moving to electronic payslips to reduce processing time and environmental waste.
• Successful negotiation of a variation to the ASC Pty Ltd 2017/21 Enterprise Agreement.
• Implementation of ASC’s COVID-19 related policies, resulting in the transition of approximately 700 employees to working from home arrangements.
• Increasing the proportion of female employees from 12 percent in 2018/19 to almost 16 percent in 2019/20.

Remuneration Strategy

Competitive remuneration acknowledges the value and contribution of our employees. It is a key component of ASC’s strategic objective to ‘attract, retain and grow’ its workforce.

To ensure ASC’s approach to remuneration and benefits remained competitive and in line with
market practice, a comprehensive benchmarking activity was undertaken against comparative sectors and the general market.

The results informed ASC’s Remuneration Strategy and ensured:

• Alignment to the external market;
• Competitive remuneration to attract, retain and reward employees;
• Remuneration practices are fair transparent and equitable;
• Alignment to ASC’s values and to drive behaviour;
• Linkage between performance and reward; and
• Gender pay equity.

Employee Engagement

To gain further insights from ASC’s Employee Opinion Survey conducted in April 2019, focus groups were held for employees to provide feedback on the four key areas of focus:

• Remuneration and benefits;
• Communication and leadership;
• Culture and recognition; and
• Simplification.

The focus groups were hosted by 14 executive and senior level leaders and included over 100 hours of discussion with more than 200 employees.

As a result, ASC’s Executive Team and senior leadership group added two additional areas of focus:

• Talent management, learning anddevelopment and career paths; and
• Safety.

A Corporate Action Plan was launched focussed on delivering improvements across these key areas.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

Key initiatives and achievements arising from the Corporate Action Plan include:

• Employee (non-enterprise agreement) Remuneration Review completed and new remuneration framework implemented in late 2019. Improved Parental Leave scheme introduced in late 2019.
• Provision of Additional Leave as part of the new remuneration framework, which aligns with industry and community expectations.
• A range of improvements to onsite amenities, facilities and work environment.
• All employee groups now have access to the same benefits, including novated leases for motor vehicles.
• New performance management and talent management systems for launch in 2021.
• Improved employee communication channels.

Diversity and Inclusion

The ASC D&I Program was established in 2016 with the creation of the ‘All Aboard’ D&I Council. In 2019/20, ASC’s ‘All Aboard’ Program focussed on championing an inclusive parental leave policy, the development of ASC’s first Reconciliation Action Plan, and increasing diversity in senior roles.

In late 2019, ASC became a market leader when a new parental leave scheme was introduced for primary and secondary carers. Leave increased from 12 weeks paid leave to 24 weeks for primary carers and from one day to 12 days paid leave for secondary carers.

Reconciliation Action Plan

A working group was formed in September 2019 under the leadership of ASC’s D&I Council to develop a ‘Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan’. ASC’s vision for reconciliation is to provide opportunities for better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and businesses, while building strong and lasting relationships with the Indigenous communities in which we work.

Training and Skills Development

An online version of ASC’s ‘Call it Out’ anti-bullying, harassment and discrimination training program is under development for implementation in late 2020, and will be included in ASC’s induction program.

Employee numbers by gender, location and employment status

Awareness

ASC became a member of the Diversity Council of Australia in February 2020 to increase ASC’s awareness and understanding of best practice D&I initiatives.

Apprentice and Graduate Programs

In 2020 ASC’s Apprentice Program attracted a large number of applicants, resulting in 13 new apprentice positions in electrical, mechanical and fabrication streams, six in SA and seven in WA.

ASC employed eight engineers as part of its Graduate Program, four in SA and four in WA. Graduates are placed in permanent positions for two years and gain experience and exposure to the business through a rotation every three to six months across various departments. Two graduates from ASC North took the opportunity to work in WA during this period.