Australia’s Offshore Resources Decommissioning Roadmap

5. Building a skilled, diverse and safe offshore decommissioning workforce

Australia’s offshore resources sector workforce is preparing for decommissioning. This workforce built Australia’s offshore resources industry from the ground up. Many of those same skill sets will be needed to support the establishment of a sustainable Australian offshore decommissioning industry.

A strong decommissioning industry will create opportunities in regional areas and attract new investment for Australian businesses across the decommissioning value chain both offshore and onshore.

CSIRO estimates the decommissioning and resource recovery value chain could create more than 3,500 new jobs (CSIRO 2024a). The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) also found there are career transition opportunities for existing oil and gas workers in decommissioning and renewable energy production given the similar skill profiles (ATSE 2024). This applies not just to the existing workforce that operates on offshore platforms and vessels. Skill and experience across project planning and management, along with jobs that require expertise in demolition and scrapping, will all be needed to support an Australian offshore decommissioning industry. The same skillset will also be needed to decommission offshore wind infrastructure in the decades ahead. There is a sense of optimism in the sector on the ability to access the necessary workforce. However, there are emerging challenges that will need to be planned for and managed (KPMG 2023).

Sixty per cent of skills and job roles in oil and gas have high or good overlap with offshore wind construction and operation, and a further 31% have partial overlap (Star of the South n.d.). With many future decommissioning projects occurring in regional areas where labour demand is surging, managing the availability of skilled workers will be important to sustain a decommissioning industry. The below figure sets out areas where capabilities and skills will have particular crossovers with other industries.

Capability heatmap. Full description follows.

Capability competition heatmap (KPMG 2023)

This chart shows the specific skills required for each phase of the decommissioning value chain and the key competitors and overlap of these skills in ancillary industries including offshore wind, renewable energy, mining and the broader economy.

Planning requires:

  • Engineering design and construction skills
  • Environmental specialists
  • Project management skills.

These skills have moderate competition with:

  • Offshore wind
  • Renewable energy
  • Mining
  • The broader economy.

Offshore operations and construction requires:

  • Maintenance and construction trades
  • Technical specialists.

These skills have moderate competition with offshore wind.

Well servicing requires operational and technical well specialists. These skills have little to no overlap with ancillary industries. 

Vessel operations requires maritime and vessel contractors. These skills significantly compete with Offshore wind.

Dismantling requires:

  • Machine operators
  • Labourers.

These skills have moderate competition with:

  • Renewable energy
  • Mining
  • The broader economy.

Hazardous waste handling requires hazardous waste specialists. These skills have moderate competition with mining.

Material operations requires:

  • Labour
  • Recycling facility operators.

These skills have moderate competition with

  • Mining
  • The broader economy.

Providers are looking to existing workforces to fill demand. This is because the nature of the expected decommissioning activity has peaks and troughs across the pipeline. It is also because the decommissioning sector is likely to need fewer workers than oil and gas production. The capabilities at the front end of decommissioning activities are consistent with existing operations and can be transitioned. They include: 

  • engineering
  • project and environmental planning
  • well plugging and abandonment expertise
  • skill sets in the oil and gas sector (KPMG 2023). 

The limited decommissioning activity in Australia to date means that the ability to transition, upscale and upskill a workforce capability is unproven (CODA 2024a). Challenges in attracting new workers to decommissioning include:

  • perception of negative environmental impacts of the oil and gas industry
  • more remote work
  • lack of innovation 
  • perceived gender and diversity imbalances (KPMG 2023). 

Diversity in decommissioning

Women are underrepresented in all roles in oil and gas extraction, except for clerical and administrative staff (79%). Men made up 90% of CEO roles in the oil and gas sector in 2022-23, which is higher than the wider workforce rate of 78% (WGEA n.d.). Employment in the oil and gas sector in Australia is about 25% women (ABS 2024). 

With an existing workforce that is mainly male aged between 35 and 50, it is important to increase the pool of younger workers, and improve the diversity of the workforce, to sustain a domestic decommissioning industry (KPMG 2023). 

First Nations people make up about 3% of the oil and gas workforce, which is comparable to broader population trends (KPMG 2023). In remote and regional areas, First Nations workers are better represented in industries relevant to decommissioning. This includes construction labour, machine and stationary plant operators, road and rail drivers, and specialist managers. There are opportunities to grow the First Nations workforce in roles such as program or project administrators, drillers and waterside workers. These roles have low First Nations representation, but training in these areas will support employment in the decommissioning sector (CSIRO 2024a). 

Worker safety in offshore decommissioning

NOPSEMA is Australia’s independent expert safety regulator for offshore resources activities and has a strong track record. However, offshore decommissioning is a relatively new activity in a high-hazard industry. In building a sustainable decommissioning industry in Australia, the first and most important priority is to ensure that our people working across the value chain are safe at work. 

The Australian Government is implementing improvements to our offshore safety frameworks, including by improving worker protections against discrimination and coercion, and expanding the definition of health in Australia’s offshore legislation to include physical and psychological health. The government will also amend existing safety regulations to strengthen reporting obligations in relation to sexual harassment.

As part of its commitment to continually improve our offshore safety frameworks, the Australian Government will ensure our existing offshore safety frameworks remain fit for purpose. This includes looking for further opportunities to harmonise the offshore petroleum safety regime with our national Work Health and Safety laws where it would achieve equal or better safety outcomes, including for those working on decommissioning. 

Actions

To help build a skilled, safe, and diverse decommissioning workforce, the Australian Government will:

  • continue to review Australia’s offshore safety frameworks to identify opportunities to harmonise with National Work Health and Safety laws, where appropriate
  • support development of a decommissioning workforce through actions by the directorate to:
    • provide advice and guidance on skills and workforce barriers and opportunities
    • support the decommissioning industry and workforce to link into existing jobs and skills initiatives, such as Jobs and Skills Councils, to ensure that skills needs are addressed where appropriate.