The ABC claims Carnival mistreats its crew, but government inspectors have found no evidence. What’s really happening?

• The ABC has published a report claiming the crew on board Carnival Australia vessels are paid as little as $2.75 an hour.
• The Maritime Union of Australia has made similar claims.
• The workers themselves often say they are happy working on the ships, and even one of those who spoke to the ABC will be back on board soon.

Over recent months, the Maritime Union of Australia has levelled several accusations against Carnival Cruise Line’s operations in Australia, namely that workers are underpaid and poorly treated. This has been repeatedly denied by Carnival, which says it pays workers according to the Maritime Labour Convention.

It points out the high retention rates of its workforce – more than 95 per cent of the crews who worked on P&O Australia’s ships, for instance, are still with the line, and some crew work for years or even decades on the line’s ships.

Now the ABC, which this week apologised to Australia’s richest woman Gina Rinehart and lost their investigations head, has apparently sided with the MOU. It reportedly spoke to several crew who claim to have been paid as little as $2.75 an hour, and who also maintain they suffered poor working conditions and were served food left over from the buffet.

This pressure from the MUA has ramped up in recent days, in what was already a tense week for cruise.

The industry held a press conference and sounded the alarm on massive potential tourism losses if the government doesn’t work with the industry to reduce regulation and create a national cruise strategy. 

The timing of the ABC report could hardly have been worse, forcing the minister who will decide on the Coastal Shipping Act changes, Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Catherine King, to issue a statement saying the crew allegations were concerning.

This week, Labor senator Tony Sheldon boarded the Carnival Splendor as a paying customer, attempted to speak with the captain, and called for a union agreement for workers onboard.

Carnival has rejected all these allegations, pointing out that Australia’s Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has boarded the ship three times and is yet to report any wrongdoing.

It’s believed that AMSA is still investigating the claims and is yet to officially report anything. Cruise Passenger sought comment from AMSA and is awaiting a response.

In a statement, Carnival Australia said: “Carnival rejects these allegations. Our crew are seafarers and hospitality professionals who choose to return contract after contract.

“AMSA, Australia’s maritime compliance regulator, has carried out surprise inspections of our three ships in recent weeks – and cleared Carnival on each occasion.

“We comply with the Maritime Labour Convention, which sets international standards for seafarer working and living conditions. The facts do not support the union’s claims.”

Carnival maintains the union is trying to get the crew to join the union. The line shared a video with Cruise Passenger of crew members, some of whom have been working with Carnival for years.

The video that Carnival sent to Cruise Passenger can be viewed below. 

Carnival reaffirmed that there are many Carnival seafarers who have spent decades working with the line, and that reporting channels for employees include an anonymous hotline and an ability to speak to relevant marine authorities. 

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Are Carnival workers underpaid? 

Central to the ABC story is a photo of a payslip, provided by a Carnival employee, which shows an employee earning US$23.26 per day, based on a 12 hour day. However, it isn’t clear how many days are worked on this day. The ABC states the average daily wage is $2.75 an hour, based off of 12-hour workdays.

Australia has adopted the International Labour Organisation’s Maritime Labour Convention, which clearly sets out legal rates of pay and the amount of hours that can be worked. 

For 2025, when the contract was from, the minimum monthly basic wage for seafarers was US$673. This has risen to US$690 for 2026, and will rise to US$704 next year. 

As noted above, workers can work up to 72 hours across seven days, which means if we were to look at a 30-day month, this would be four weeks of 72 hours, plus for example, two more days of 12 hours. Which comes out to 312 hours worked in a month.

Based on the 2025 figures, this would allow legal pay to be US$2.15 an hour, which is AU$3.05 an hour.

This means that both the MUA’s claims that workers are paid low amounts, and Carnival’s claim that workers are paid according to international maritime conventions can be true at the same time.

It would be up to AMSA to confirm that workers are being paid legally. 

The MUA is attempting to get a union agreement for workers or a change in Australian law that would set out particular pay rates and working conditions for workers on cruise ships that operate in Australian waters. An agreement or law like this doesn’t exist anywhere in the world.

If they win either, cruise lines will need to recalculate the cost of sailing here and probably increase cruise fares.

Why do workers choose to work on cruise ships?

Most cruise ship workers come from Africa and Asia, generally from countries where the minimum wage is significantly lower than in Australia.

Jobs on board, with food and accommodation taken care of, often give cruise ship workers the chance to earn significantly more than they would in their home country. 

Furthermore, the nature of cruise ship work means that workers can take home a larger percentage of their pay than they would if they were paying rent, buying food and so on. 

Many crew members or former crew members have spoken up on social media over recent months to assert that they enjoyed working on a cruise ship and appreciated the opportunity.

Even a worker who was quoted in the ABC story said she will be returning to work more with Carnival.

Crews are critical to the cruise experience, and almost all passengers support fair pay for the hard work they carry out. 

Passengers would support a thorough investigation to ensure workers are not being mistreated and have a safe working environment, working the legal hours and receiving appropriate support when required. 

What else will be investigated?

AMSA is yet to reveal what exactly has or will be investigated, but they have a basis from the Maritime Labour Convention as to investigate the rest of the allegations levelled against Carnival.

There are specific laws on standards on accommodation conditions, food and catering, medical care and more outlined in the convention. It is the responsibility of AMSA to investigate these claims and determine if conditions onboard meet the standards as listed in the convention.