Australia’s skydiving industry is bracing for a major disruption tomorrow, as highly trained skydiving instructors employed by tourism giant Experience Co walk off the job and rally at eight sites across Queensland, including the Noosa region, New South Wales, and Victoria.
The action follows nearly 10 months of stalled negotiations for a first-ever enterprise agreement, talks which workers say have revealed a company willing to trade away the industry’s reputation for profit.
According to the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU), Experience Co has repeatedly pushed wage proposals that would send employees backwards.
According to the union, some offers have included cuts of between $20,000 and $100,000 a year, while the latest proposal would slash the minimum annual wage for skydiving instructors from $57,000 to just $49,000, with earnings dependent on a very low “per jump” piece-rate.
The AWU says these cuts are not only disrespectful to workers – they undermine the safety of every customer who straps into a tandem harness.
Jonathan Cook, the AWU National Organiser, said: “Tandem skydiving instructors literally take people’s lives in their hands every time they go to work.”
“If you’re not investing in your people, you’re undermining the trust that the industry has built up over years.
“You might want to give a once in a lifetime gift this Christmas but would you want your mum strapped to an underpaid instructor?”
“Experience Co’s message is clear: they want to turn these skilled professionals into gig workers, paid less, working more, and carrying the same enormous responsibility.”
“Would you jump out of a plane with an instructor who can’t afford to feed their family, while the company pockets millions?”
Experience Co employs more than 1,000 workers, including 130 skydivers, across some of Australia’s most iconic tourism destinations, including Noosa.
Strike and Rally Locations – Friday, 5 December 2025
Queensland
Mission Beach – Drop Zone – 9:00am AEST
Noosa – 4 Kittyhawk close, Marcoola – 9:00am AEST
