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The Latest Breaking News from PALM

Calls for more Pacific-led services for Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme seasonal workers

Asimel one of more than 25,000 seasonal workers helping to address critical labour shortages in Australia. But when workers arrive from the Indo-Pacific region, they're often forced to rely on their own community groups to help in an emergency.

ABC News

Voice working group says Dutton committed to ‘further talks’ – as it happened

This blog is now closed

The Guardian - AU

Young people's criminal convictions drop dramatically after residential drug treatment, study shows

A new study reveals residential drug treatment can dramatically reduce future criminal convictions for young people who are likely to get stuck in a cycle of crime.

ABC News

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Pacific labour milestone reached six months early

The federal government has hailed the success of a plan to get more Pacific workers into Australia, reaching its target half a year ahead of schedule.

AAP

Australia must walk the talk on fruit-picking visas for our Pacific family

Backpackers get a pretty good run — some basic rules and they’re right to go — but not so for Pacific Islanders on the PALM scheme.

Crikey

Reaping what we sow: cultural ignorance undermines Australia's recruitment of Pacific Island workers

Alice and Scott* have been running their two-storey pub-turned-backpacker hostel in Queensland’s Wide Bay region, north of Brisbane, for more a decade. Over the years they’ve provided accommodation for thousands of backpackers and itinerant workers who come to the region for fruit-picking jobs.

The Conversation

PALM workers set to be joined by families in 2023-24 as government commits to visa scheme

The federal government has committed to allowing the families of hundreds of foreign workers to live with their loved ones in Australia.

ABC News

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Underpaid at home, vulnerable abroad: how seasonal job schemes are draining Pacific nations of vital workers

The economic impact of COVID on Pacific Island states, combined with major labour shortages in Australia and New Zealand, has created a perfect storm. A mass exodus means Pacific nations are now losing crucial workers at such volume that their own development prospects are being undermined.

The Conversation

Labour schemes drawing nurses from across Pacific to lower-qualified aged care jobs in Australia, New Zealand

An exodus of over-qualified Pacific Island nurses who are taking up aged care jobs in countries such as Australia has experts concerned the "brain drain" is leaving critical gaps in the region's healthcare systems.

ABC News

Successful mango season predicted for NT growers, but lingering workforce shortages remain

Leo Skliros predicts a huge proportion of his healthy mango crop will go to waste this season. And he's not the only one.

ABC News

Pacific Islands tourism sector struggling as staff leave under mobility scheme to meet Australia's worker shortage

A mobility scheme to bring in hospitality workers from the Pacific Islands to fill labour shortages may be "good for Australia", but local businesses say there has been an exodus and now they are struggling to find skilled workers when the tourism industry needs them the most.

ABC News

Overseas recruitment won't solve Australia's aged care worker crisis

Next week’s job summit will need to address the massive staff shortages in aged care. Estimates suggest 35,000 additional aged care workers per year are needed to fill growing aged care skill shortages. These problems will only increase as demand continues to grow.

The Conversation

Aged care sector welcomes Pacific workers but needs 35,000 more each year to address shortages

Australia is pinning its hopes on Pacific workers to help fill shortages across the economy — particularly in aged care — but industry says a history of poor conditions and sheer numbers mean that's unlikely to make a significant dent in demand.

ABC News

Labour hire company rejects claims Pacific workers who 'absconded' were enticed to breach their visas

The director of a company that employed Pacific islanders who "absconded" from their work program says he feels "sick" over claims they were induced to break the rules.

ABC News

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ABC News

Pacific farm workers who breached visas by working for wrong employers fight to get them back

The 24 workers in regional Queensland breached visa rules by taking on work from unapproved employers. But advocates say they were "vulnerable" due to issues with pay and conditions.

The Guardian - AU

Man hospitalised without Medicare after being set ablaze shows precarity of Pacific Island fruit pickers

Sione Lavalu lost his health insurance after Covid stranded him in Australia and now owes $79,000 after suffering major burns

Crikey

Timorese migrant workers lured by ‘sweet’ promises end up as visa ‘absconders’

Sweet smiles and strawberries are compelling East Timorese migrant workers to abscond from labour mobility programs.

Crikey

‘I can’t go home’: Timorese turn to asylum, lost in Australia’s confusing visa system

Temporary migrant workers from Timor Leste are failing miserably in their quest for asylum, learning the hard way that a protection visa is neither a financial safety net nor a means to work.

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The Guardian - AU

‘No support’: Pacific Island labour-hire workers fear $6,000 cost of giving birth in Australia

Pregnant women working under the Palm scheme face exorbitant healthcare bills and no easy options

The Atlantic

Google’s AI Is Something Even Stranger Than Conscious

Machine sentience is overrated.

The Independent UK

Johnny Depp signs $15k portrait at steakhouse by Ritz-Carlton where he stayed during Amber Heard trial

Actor lived in suite at the Ritz-Carlton during trial, dining on chicken parm at local eatery The Palm

The Guardian - AU

Australian farm revolution: hopes and fears as a new workforce replaces backpackers

Return of only 7,000 working holiday makers a profound change for agriculture industry

ABC News

Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme helps fruit picker shortage, but farmers see room for improvement

The merging of two Pacific Islander worker schemes has made life easier for some farmers, but workers and employers say more can be done to improve the program.

People

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