A working diver's school, run by working divers, since 1995.

Our story

UTCSA was founded in 1995 by Martin and Lyn Phillips with a simple goal: train commercial divers properly. 31 years later, that goal is unchanged, and the centre is now run by their son Dafydd, an Australian Diver Accreditation Scheme (ADAS) diver and supervisor who came up through the industry himself.

In 1999 the South Australian Government awarded UTCSA the Augusta Zadow Award for advancing diver health and safety. In 2006 our founder was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to study commercial diver training overseas. The methods he brought back are baked into how we run courses today. In 2024 ADAS awarded current director Dafydd Phillips the Maurie Vierow Award for exceptional dedication to diver training and safety: the same standard, carried into the next generation.

We're based in Burra, two hours north of Adelaide, but our students aren't. They fly in from every state in Australia, from New Zealand, and from across the Pacific, SE Asia and the UK and Europe to train with us. Our Burra Mine Pool, a flooded heritage quarry, gives us one of Australia's best and most unique training sites: real working conditions, every day. Small classes, working instructors, no fluff.

We use our extensive links with industry to help you get that crucial first commercial diving job. We speak to the diving contractors regularly, and during your course we help you prepare: CV, interview practice, and guidance on which contractors are hiring and what they're looking for. Our graduates work across aquaculture, construction, inspection and civil. Many step up to ADAS Part 3 or Part 4 elsewhere for offshore work after a few years onshore. Our placement record is the one we're proudest of.