Ventia has been proudly providing services to Australia and New Zealand's Defence Forces since 1989 when our legacy company, Transfield Services, established a naval shipbuilding division and was awarded a contract to build 10 ANZAC class frigates for the Australian and New Zealand governments.
Since that time, we have grown to be the largest provider of Defence estate maintenance and support services in Australia.
Initial services commenced in 1999 with fire and rescue at RAAF Edinburgh, Fleet Base West, RAAF Pearce, RAAF Gin Gin, RAAF East Sale, HMAS Cerberus and Puckapunyal Military Area.
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) remains an important customer today as we now employ approximately 320 Firefighters, Aircraft Refuellers and Watchroom Operators to support their operations.
We are proud to celebrate with RAAF in 2021 as they commemorate their centenary and to support their many events and festivities.
Image: Centenary Hangar Dinner, RAAF Pearce, March 2021
Commitment to veterans
As a result of our national presence and many years of service to the Australian Defence Force (ADF), Ventia attracts veterans and spouses, and many civilians with family connections to the military, who want to continue some form of service.
We offer a range of job and career opportunities and the ability to transfer with posting cycles.
We have signed The Soldier On Pledge and also the Veterans Employment Commitment to demonstrate our commitment to providing greater employment opportunities for veterans and their families and to recognise the skills, values and experience that veterans bring to an organisation and the culture.
Our valued people: Phillip McLennan
One such valued employee is Phillip McLennan who Ventia recently nominated for the Prime Minister's Veterans Awards. An Air Force veteran of 23 years, Phil saw service in Australia, Asia, Middle East and USA followed by a career in private and public service, exiting at the rank of Wing Commander. He is an active reservist with a combined service history of over 40 years.
Phil is now Ventia's Defence Regional Operations Manager for South Australia overseeing multiple sites and stakeholders and a team of 300 people. His military service has positively contributed to his ability to navigate a complex stakeholder environment and is high valued by Ventia.
A strong leader, Phil has built a cohesive team and actively educates people about the challenges faced by the ADF that directly affect contractors and conversely, helps the ADF understand the contracts that govern service delivery and the operation of the Defence estate.
Our valued people: Debbie McGovern
Another valued civilian employee is Debbie McGovern, currently the Estate Maintenance and Operational Services (EMOS) Manager at RAAF Base Pearce in Western Australia.
Debbie is responsible for the financial and operational performance of Ventia's contracts at RAAF Pearce, RAAF Learmonth, RAAF Curtin and Gin Gin airfield. She oversees the delivery of 13 services including firefighting, refuelling, warehouse/transport, catering, cleaning/accommodation, laundry, land/environmental management and technical maintenance.
Her career spans 25 years in the Defence industry and at RAAF Pearce. She is a Defence spouse, her stepfather was an Air Force member and her grandfather was in the Army.
Her long career in Defence and knowledge that such experience brings, makes her a respected and indispensable 'go to' person that is highly valued.
Her intimate understanding of Defence at one of the busiest flying training schools in Australia, means she can pre-empt requirements to support the RAAFs critical objectives.
"I have worked at RAAF Base Pearce for 25 years and over that time I have met some wonderful people and seen many changes', Debbie said.
"I enjoy watching the Pilots courses go through, meeting their family at Graduation then seeing them return in a few years as flying instructors.
Knowing that you have helped them achieve their goal is always a nice feeling including catering and cleaning for them, delivering fuel to their plane, and being on standby in case of incidents.
'MH370 is probably my most memorable achievement, whilst the plane has still not been located, working with all the different countries that assisted with the search was incredible.
We provided essential services to range of different nationalities by running 24 hour services to enable Defence to achiever their objectives."
Debbie was a finalist in the inaugural Women in Defence Awards in 2018, nominated for her work as senior coordination lead in the recovery project for Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.