Austal Ships
    (89 reviews)

    Company Reviews

    Working at Austal Ships

    3.189 ratings in total
    5
    23
    4
    17
    3
    14
    2
    12
    1
    23
    65%
    Rate salary as high or average
    52%
    Employees recommend this employer to friends
    Work/Life balance
    3.5(87 ratings)
    Career development
    3.0(88 ratings)
    Benefits & perks
    2.8(88 ratings)
    Management
    2.6(89 ratings)
    Working environment
    3.0(88 ratings)
    Diversity & equal opportunity
    3.3(87 ratings)
    Ratings for Austal Ships are shared as-is from employees in line with our community guidelines

    Reviews

    Showing 89 reviews sorted by most recent
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    5.0
    Recruitment Consultant
    Apr 2026
    Henderson WA 61661 to 2 years in the role, current employee
    Great team, smart stakeholders, immersive work. I plan to stay long-term
    The good thingsSupportive and collaborative team environment. Opportunity to work closely with highly intelligent and knowledgeable stakeholders who are leaders in their respective fields. Exposure to a very interesting program, allowing you to become fully immersed in the work and gain a deep understanding of the business and its projects. The role provides strong learning opportunities and professional growth through stakeholder engagement and complex recruitment challenges.
    The challengesFast-paced environment that challenges you to adapt quickly and continuously improve processes
    5.0
    Welder Fabricator
    Mar 2026
    Phillip ACT 26062 to 3 years in the role, current employee
    I worked almost 18 years now Both locally. I have been worked as SMAW, FCAW ,MIG and TIG
    The good thingsyes, im happy always get my task and i always finish where they asign to me of any location of the ships.
    The challengesalways learn by mistake and dont shy to ask the if they know about they gave a task.
    5.0
    Manager
    Feb 2026
    Henderson WA 61661 to 2 years in the role, current employee
    A team I enjoy being part of
    The good thingsBeing part of a team at the leading edge of WA's shipbuilding capability. A collaborative culture and friendly atmosphere. And of course, a three-day weekend every other week.
    The challengesThe challenge is keeping pace with new and improved ways of working to embrace innovation and technology.
    5.0
    Manager
    Feb 2026
    Henderson WA 6166Less than 1 year in the role, current employee
    This is my second time working at Austal. I love the people and the projects. A good place to work
    The good thingsMultiple people working in the same direction. Its a big job but together we are going to succeed.
    The challengesAs expansion happens, trying to keep job roles defined and clear ensuring there are no gaps,
    4.0
    Senior Production Engineer
    Feb 2026
    Henderson WA 6166Less than 1 year in the role, current employee
    Contributing to a world-class legacy of continuous and sustainable naval shipbuilding.
    The good thingsBeing part of the Production Engineering team within Design and Engineering has been a fantastic experience so far. Austal is aggressively building expertise in continuous and sustainable naval shipbuilding, and it’s exciting to be at the heart of that transition. The focus on bridging high-level design with efficient, modern production methods is clear, and the collective knowledge within the team is world-class. It’s a great and exciting environment for anyone looking to contribute to Australia’s sovereign industrial capability.
    The challengesThe complexity of moving toward a fully digital shipyard while maintaining a high production tempo is significant. There is a lot of specialized technical knowledge to absorb in the first few months, but the team is incredibly supportive in helping you navigate those systems.
    5.0
    Projects
    Feb 2026
    Henderson WA 6166Less than 1 year in the role, current employee
    The face paced, delivery focused, can do culture is the perfect place to challenge yourself and grow
    The good thingsAwesome opportunities to grow your career. Great team working environment.
    The challengesSome of the tools and facilities can be a bit aged
    5.0
    Configuration Management Specialist
    Feb 2026
    Henderson WA 61664 to 5 years in the role, current employee
    Come along on the journey with us!
    The good thingsThe projects I have worked on are really interesting, keeps you on your toes. The teams are very supportive which makes it easier to come to work each day
    The challengesKeeping up with the technology innovations that is being introduced. Will be great for new projects.
    5.0
    Engineering Role
    Feb 2026
    Henderson WA 61661 to 2 years in the role, current employee
    Dynamic but exciting time to be at Austal with lots of opportunities
    The good thingsGreat team of people with a bright future and lots of work in the pipeline
    The challengesRamping up resources and teams means a lot of change.
    1.0
    Superisor
    Jan 2026
    Darwin NT 0800Less than 1 year in the role, former employee
    Would not recommend working here no support from anyone.
    The good thingsThe employees and staff
    The challengesSupport and training
    2 people found this helpful
    1.0
    Undisclosed
    Jan 2026
    Naval Base WA 61651 to 2 years in the role, former employee
    Poor onboarding, micromanaged, cliquey culture, and flexibility not as promised.
    The good thingsLeaving and going home everyday
    The challengesminimal onboarding, tightly managed team, and culture that rewarded “dobbing in.”
    1 person found this helpful
    1.0
    Quality
    Sep 2025
    Cairns QLD 4870Less than 1 year in the role, former employee
    Poor Communication skills
    The good thingsNothing the recruiting was so bad who would want to work there.
    The challengesThe Recruitment team are terrible. No attention to detail and their communication skills are hopeless.
    1 person found this helpful
    1.0
    Project Manager
    Jun 2025
    Perth WA 60003 to 4 years in the role, current employee
    Horrible culture, hamstrung by old ways
    The good thingsSome exceptional people
    The challengesMost things are a challenge
    2 people found this helpful
    1.0
    Project Officer
    May 2025
    Cairns QLD 4870Less than 1 year in the role, former employee
    Toxic environment supported by management and no appreciation for hard work.
    The good thingsSome people were really nice, and I enjoyed working with them and making friends.
    The challengesPoor training, high expectations, heavy workload and pressure for the money. Team included unhelpful and immature individuals, creating toxic behaviors not adressed by management. Poor Management & support when needed. Going home sick might get you fired.
    7 people found this helpful
    3.0
    Operations Manager - Austal Technology (Full-Time)
    Mar 2025
    Perth WA 60003 to 4 years in the role, former employee
    Thankful to Austal Technology and Austal for giving me the opportunity to grow as a IT professional in WA. But you have room for improvement!
    The good thingsMost of the staff were friendly and supportive. Lately introduced work-life balance.
    The challengesIt was challenging to deal with some senior managers.
    2 people found this helpful
    1.0
    Waterfront supervisor
    Sep 2024
    Cairns QLD 4870
    Do Not work for this company
    The good thingsThe view when working on ships
    The challengesManagement are terrible, they are happy to throw you under the bus, but will not help
    4 people found this helpful
    2.0
    Reliability Engineer
    May 2024
    Naval Base WA 61653 to 4 years in the role, former employee
    Great people, interesting work, terrible culture and non-existent support.
    The good things-Work for a designer, manufacturer and sustainer of Australian Ships, with long term contracts to various government departments. -Opportunity to work across different areas of the business and programs, sustainment work can be secure and long term for job security -The people at the coalface are great, willing to help and will find the time for you. -Get to work with some really experienced engineers, fabricators and maintainers. -See the ships you help design, build and or support as they come in for refit. -Opportunity for some challenging and interesting work across sustainment.
    The challenges-Little support and incredible reluctance to fund or deliver training and development. -Neglect and isolation of In Service Support branch, with absent senior leadership. -Turnover was high from poor behaviours allowed to flourish, and people realising nearly everywhere else is a better deal for conditions, pay and culture. -Despite being in an established company, feels like you were making processes and procedures from scratch every time. -Frequently seeing good people burn out, not be supported and subsequently leave -Poor pay relative to competitors, Unrealistic expectation of roles with even a smidge of specialisation for pay, experience and education. Inflexibility with pay to be commiserate with experience. -Hidden rules, arbitrary processes and lack of communication from the business. -At the company level, no desire to identify, acknowledge or address problems.
    2 people found this helpful
    1.0
    Engineer
    Apr 2024
    Henderson WA 61661 to 2 years in the role, former employee
    The toxic environment and lack of unity make it challenging to work here.
    The good thingsThere is not much about it, unfortunately.
    The challengesToxic working environment.
    3 people found this helpful
    2.0
    Manager
    Oct 2023
    Henderson WA 61661 to 2 years in the role
    A company that falls short of its potential.
    The good things- Working in defence - A large enough organisation to have a variety of roles - Good people who want to do a good job - New teams with an appetite for change
    The challenges- A toxic culture that lacks accountability - A stagnant and dysfunctional senior leadership team led by a non-existent CEO. A people and culture team that is isolated from the workforce - Lack of diversity in work - Lack of internal communication - Poor systems. Procedures that do not apply to senior leadership - Average and opaque compensation
    8 people found this helpful
    1.0
    Engineering Role
    Jun 2023
    Henderson WA 61665 to 6 years in the role
    The worst I have seen in 20 years of experience.
    The good thingsNot much unfortunately
    The challengesTrying to convince yourself to go to work due to lack of support
    4 people found this helpful
    2.0
    Project Coordinator
    Jun 2023
    Perth WA 6000
    Austal has allot of potential, but fails to grow as a digital shipyard due to lack of unity.
    The good thingsComradery in the project team was high and the Program leadership was good.
    The challengesBusiness leaders continually resisting change. High turnover of staff.. not all ELT/SLT members share the vision of digital transformation. Some Dept Heads ignore or never engage with the project, program sponsor not active or visible enough. No project detailed design, No project schedule visible until year 3. No PMO or project governance, the organisation has low change maturity.
    7 people found this helpful
    5.0
    Material Planner
    May 2022
    7 to 8 years in the role, current employee
    I enjoy working here at Austal, I have been with the company for over 8 years and find it very rewarding.
    The good thingsBeing able to grow and develop my skillsets and diversify within roles in the company plus many great people in the company that are very supportive
    The challengesI haven't found anything that has made it difficult to want to come to work.
    1 person found this helpful
    5.0
    Graduate Mechanical Engineer
    May 2022
    1 to 2 years in the role, current employee
    Diverse learning with many touch points, all whilst in a world class company.
    The good thingsAustal Ships is a diverse place to learn, develop and grow. There are opportunities all across the business and employees are encourage to branch out and look for new ways to improve products and efficiencies.
    The challengesWorking with a large company, sometime implementation of change can be a challenge, but something that will provide benefit and grow experience.
    4.0
    Analyst
    Apr 2022
    3 to 4 years in the role, current employee
    Very good
    The good thingsWork-life balance is very good and there are a number of business opportunities for career progression.
    The challengesOld business with old business processes, however, the organisation is undertaking a business transformation exercise to update business systems.
    4.0
    Marine fabricator
    Mar 2022
    3 to 4 years in the role, former employee
    I was able to grow in confidence in the line of work I was involved with and made it a great environment to learn and work as a team.
    The good thingsFabricating with a great team, learning new techniques in vessel manufacturing, fabrication and welding, having the opportunity to work four days a week and work overtime.
    The challengesworking with such a large company can make it quite difficult to communicate various issues with engineering drawings and time schedules in a prompt matter.
    1 person found this helpful
    4.0
    Control and Monitoring Engineer
    Nov 2021
    3 to 4 years in the role, former employee
    Amazing team and projects to be part of if keen to learn, if you don’t lock horns with management
    The good things- Amazing team with support provided in terms of learning and guidance - Good work-life balance - Good opportunity for learning and gaining hands-on experience due to higher than average workload - Promotes creativity and innovation. Open to suggestions on improving workflow
    The challenges- Overall experience dependant on team employee is part of (some managers are amazing. Some not so much) - Pay is lower than industry average. No room to negotiate post-start - Limited opportunities to move up the ladder
    2 people found this helpful
    2.0
    Control and Monitoring Engineer
    Nov 2021
    Good team member and leader
    The good thingsExposure to variety of control
    The challengesBarely survive with under pay salary ( i'll strongly not recommend )
    3 people found this helpful
    4.0
    ICT level 2 Support Officer
    Nov 2021
    1 to 2 years in the role, former employee
    Amazing Learning Opportunities
    The good thingsI really enjoyed working at Austal. The department I worked in was caring and supportive. They looked after me and I am grateful to have worked for such a great team. I also liked: - Getting every second Friday off. - Lots of opportunities. - Focus on safety. - Ocean views. - Cool ships. - To see staff trying their best in adverse circumstances.
    The challenges- Wind blown rubbish is a problem. The sea is right there and I'm sure it has an effect on the living animals in there. - Sometimes there is so much work that it feels overwhelming.
    1 person found this helpful
    4.0
    Marine fitter
    May 2021
    9 to 10 years in the role, former employee
    Ok overall, I was able to leverage my experience to my current role
    The good thingsThere is plenty of opportunity for career progression
    The challengesLosing work to offshore yards. Working with little to no information and expected to complete on schedule. Heavy downward pressure from upper management and very little empowerment to do your job. The yard team are out of control and will make your life hell.
    2 people found this helpful
    3.0
    Project Officer
    Feb 2021
    Poorly managed but enjoyed working with good people.
    The good thingsWork/life balance, flexibility & ability to work remotely. Working with good skilled colleagues.
    The challengesManagement lacking people skills, performance reviews lacking any substance, lack of training & follow through. No trust or empowerment or freedom within your own role to make improvements.
    5 people found this helpful
    1.0
    fabby
    Jan 2021
    worst place i have ever worked. has made me hate my trade i really hope it gets better from here.
    The good thingsworkmates and a 3 day weekend workwise literally nothing
    The challengeshorrible horrible management shocking pay, nothing is ever good enough they don't care about you. you are a number they don't train apprentices just use them as cheap labour
    5 people found this helpful
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