The Albanese Government has reached a major milestone \u2013 six months ahead of schedule \u2013 with more than 35,000 Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) workers now in Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the October 2022 Budget, the Government committed to reaching 35,000 workers by June 2023. Latest data shows the milestone was reached in December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the Government came to office the total number of PALM workers in Australia was just over 24,400, as at the end of May 2022. As a result of the Government\u2019s work to expand and improve PALM, the total number of workers has risen to over 35,100, as of the end of December 2022. This is an increase of 44 per cent in just seven months.
Reaching this milestone early demonstrates the Government\u2019s commitment to immediately addressing long-standing workforce issues across key sectors in the Australian economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PALM workers are earning incomes, developing skills and filling workforce shortages across 28 industries, including agriculture, food processing, accommodation and hospitality and aged care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The scheme is vital for filling workplace shortages in regional Australia, ensuring businesses can continue supporting their communities when there are limited local workers available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Workers are employed under the same industry awards and legislation as Australian workers. PALM Approved Employers must meet stringent criteria to participate, including compliance with workplace regulations and health and safety laws.
Workers from nine Pacific island countries and Timor-Leste are participating in the scheme, which is boosting economies and lifting families out of poverty. In a region where more than one third of people live on less than $1,000 per year, long term PALM workers send home an average of $15,000 each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy Government is delivering on its commitment to reform and expand PALM and is already six months ahead of schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was pleased to meet with PALM workers when I visited Fiji in July of last year, seeing firsthand the people who will make significant contributions to Australia\u2019s workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis scheme is a practical measure that shows our respect for the Pacific and will build a stronger Pacific family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe PALM scheme is improving lives, mitigating critical skills shortages and contributing to the economic resilience of the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe will continue to work with Pacific partners to achieve our shared aspirations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe wellbeing and working conditions of Pacific and Timorese workers in the PALM scheme is of central importance to the Australian government.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSite visits, a 24-hour PALM support line, and regular employer reporting are features of the compliance framework, with additional compliance activities funded in the Fair Work Ombudsman.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cReaching our commitment of 35,000 PALM scheme workers in Australia six months early demonstrates our commitment to immediately addressing the long-standing workforce issues in the agricultural industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These workers are now providing important skills and labour in our agricultural sector, helping Australian farmers and meat processors fill gaps in their workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWith the money they\u2019re earning in Australia these workers are building new homes, putting children through school and kick-starting businesses in their home countries. It\u2019s been heartening to see the impact on the ground \u2013 from Solomon Islands to Vanuatu.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Albanese Government is making a significant contribution to Pacific economies, over and above our development program \u2013 which is highly valued by the leaders I\u2019ve met across the Pacific.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Albanese Government has reached a major milestone \u2013 six months ahead of schedule \u2013 with more than 35,000 Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) workers now in Australia. In the October 2022 Budget, the Government committed to reaching 35,000 workers by June 2023. Latest data shows the milestone was reached in December. When the Government … Continue reading “GOVERNMENT DELIVERS ON EXPANDING THE PACIFIC WORKFORCE – SIX MONTHLY EARLY”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19998"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19999,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19998\/revisions\/19999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}