Australia’s next generation of vessels need next generation sustainment shipyards.
Australian Standardised Shipyard Infrastructure Strategy (ASSIST) sets out a sovereign-led, industry-backed model to modernise and standardise Australia’s maritime sustainment infrastructure in line with government priorities.
To improve efficiency, lower costs, accelerate delivery and strengthen fleet readiness.
CDB is the first pilot site under ASSIST – transforming a legacy asset into a Smart Shipyard and centre of excellence for maritime sustainment.
Situated on a fully zoned 14-hectare freehold site with a 7-hectare marine lease, CDB is established as a pilot site. Existing assets, supported by targeted upgrades, will allow the ASSIST model to be tested in practice.
For too long, shipyard sustainment infrastructure has been fragmented, slow to deliver, and not fully aligned to evolving platform and user requirements. ASSIST addresses this by:
Embedding sustainment considerations into vessel design from the outset.
Unlocking private capital and accelerating delivery.
Repeatable approach that can be scaled nationally.
Building maritime resilience through sovereign shipyard systems, skills, and supply chains.
ASSIST is a proposed sovereign-led, industry-backed initiative being advanced through the ASSIST Alliance. It provides a scalable model for modern shipyard sustainment infrastructure – one that can be shaped by government and industry to support Australia’s current and future naval and commercial fleets in a cost-effective and nationally aligned way.
Maritime sustainment infrastructure has often struggled to keep pace with advances in vessel design, reducing readiness and increasing costs. ASSIST is intended to address this by promoting a standardised approach to shipyard sustainment infrastructure that enables faster, more cost-effective delivery and strengthens sovereign control of critical systems.
CDB is the pilot site for the ASSIST model. It will combine existing assets with targeted upgrades (e.g. modern shiplifts and cradles) to demonstrate how the model could operate in practice. The site will also play a central role in research, innovation and workforce development in maritime sustainment, directly supporting sovereign capability and national skills priorities.
ASSIST seeks to strengthen Australia’s control over sustainment shipyard capability - including infrastructure, systems, skills, and supply chains. It will achieve this by involving sovereign-capable partners, encouraging local industry participation, and building resilient supply chains to underpin independent sustainment of Defence and commercial fleets.
ASSIST is being advanced through the ASSIST Alliance – an emerging group of companies, institutions, and research organisations with Defence and industry experience. Structured around defined lines of effort, the Alliance covers infrastructure delivery, operations, research and supply chain resilience. Importantly, it remains open to government, Defence, and new industry partners who wish to contribute.
There are multiple ways to engage with ASSIST. The alliance is open to collaboration and engages selectively, including through site visits and briefings where there is clear alignment with strategic objectives.