The PALM Scheme in 2026

October 15, 2026

The Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme was introduced in 2022 and allows eligible Australian businesses to hire workers from nine pacific countries and Timor-Leste when local talent can’t be sourced.

Participating countries include Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Timor-Leste

The PALM scheme is a temporary migration program which addresses unskilled, low-skilled and semi-skilled labour shortages across regional and rural Australia for agriculture and select agriculture related food manufacturing sectors.

The following sectors are covered under the PALM scheme:

Agriculture and Horticulture: Fruit picking, vegetable harvesting, pruning, packing

Meat Processing and Abattoirs: Boning rooms, slaughter floors, quality inspection

Accommodation and Tourism: Hotels, resorts, and hospitality venues in regional and tourist areas

Aquaculture and Fishing: Processing plants and on-water roles

Horticulture Packing and Storage: Post-harvest roles in cool stores, packing sheds, and distribution points alongside field roles

Cotton and Cane: Cotton growing and sugarcane harvesting

Employers can recruit workers from the participating countries to fill positions for seasonal placements of up to nine months or longer-term placements of betweeen one and four years.

While the PALM scheme is beneficial for Australian employers it also benefits workers from the Pacific and Timor-Leste. These workers are able to work in Australia, develop their skills and earn an income to support their families back home.

Participation requirements

There are a number of eligibility requirements that apply to employers and applicants in order for them to participate in the PALM scheme.

Employers

To be eligible to employ overseas workers under the PALM scheme, businesses must meet financial viability requirements as well as industry and location criteria.

Businesses must also:

Be an eligible organisation such as a body corporate, partnership or unincorporated association
Be an approved Temporary Activities Sponsor (TAS)
Be approved by the DWER as a PALM Scheme employer
Work with the Labour Sending Unit during the recruitment process

Applicants

To be eligible to apply for this program, applicants must be citizens of the listed participating countries. Each participating country has a Labour Sending Unit (LSU). To apply for the PALM scheme, applicants should contact their country’s LSU.

Benefits and Disadvantages of the PALM scheme

The PALM scheme is very beneficial for Australian businesses and workers from the Pacific and Timor-Leste. Businesses have the opportunity to employ workers on a short-term or long-term basis depending on their workforce needs and workers gain valuable skills and the opportunity to provide for their family back home.

While these are great benefits, the downside of the program can’t be ignored. Under the PALM scheme, employers are not only responsible for employment but also an employee’s accommodation, welfare and visa status. The problem with this is, when something goes awry workers can be left out in the cold.

There have been reports of employees who have been injured in the workplace and unable to continue working. These employees have then found themselves without accommodation as accommodation is attached to their employment.

While changing jobs is a common and basic right for most employees, for PALM workers this is not the case. Australia’s PALM workers are tied to approved employers in a way that limits their ability to change employers if things don’t work out.

Dr Matt Withers, a labour migration researcher at the Australian National University has argued that Australia has fallen behind some Gulf states including Qatar in allowing temporary migrant workers to change employers.

[Quote] ‘Workers in Qatar and across the Persian Gulf now have rights to change employers of their own volition. In this sense, Australia lags behind quite dramatically in offering basic protections for Pacific and Timorese guest workers.’ – [1] Dr Matt Withers, Labour Migration Researcher at the Australian National University.

There have been calls for clearer protocols to help eliminate the issues that can arise for PALM scheme workers.

What’s Next for the PALM Scheme?

The Australian Government is committed to expanding and improving the PALM scheme. It has committed $440 million across successive budgets to improve the PALM scheme.

In addition, the Government is working towards integrating New Caledonia into the PALM scheme. An initial cohort of up to 100 workers will be recruited and deployed over a two-year period. This will provide a gradual entry for New Caledonia into the PALM scheme.

The Australian Government has taken onboard feedback from Australian states and territories, industry, employers and the Pacific and Timor-Leste in regard to expanding the PALM scheme to include sectors outside of agriculture and agriculture-related sectors.

Early childhood and education care (ECED) and aged care expansion (ACE) pilots are being implemented. These pilots will help assess the viability of introducing new sectors to the PALM scheme.

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To learn more about the PALM scheme or any other aspect of migration, contact the team of experienced registered migration agents. Book a consultation.