Since the expiry of the last industry-wide salaries agreement in early 1995 and the adoption of company employment, salaries in the Australian seagoing industry have been determined under enterprise-specific agreements. The first round of enterprise agreements between individual shipping companies and the maritime unions were approved by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) in mid 1995 and were generally completed by the middle of 1997.

There has been evidence that companies have begun to adopt and develop in the current round of bargaining more novel human resource management strategies, consistent with the greater responsibility over their total workforce realised under company employment. For example, some agreements involve officers in conducting performance appraisal of their fellow seafarers, provide for the joint development of performance benchmarks, and create a link between remuneration and individual as well as team or ship performance. Together with the adoption of company employment for ratings, companies have been given new opportunities to select the most suitable candidates for the job and to invest in the development and training of their own workforces.

The challenge for companies in future negotiations will be to ensure that employees and their union representatives place greater focus on the viability and health of the company, and that historical demarcations and antipathies among unions not encroach on the development of progressive human resource outcomes at each enterprise. The ability under the Workplace Relations Act to embark on "protected" industrial action places special responsibility on unions to ensure that bargaining outcomes do not prejudice the long term viability of Australian employers.

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