Protection Visas: Let's change the conversation

The Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme is one key piece of the horticulture industry’s workforce puzzle. It provides a reliable, legal, and mutually beneficial pathway for Pacific and Timorese workers to contribute to Australia’s food supply chain, and for growers to fill critical labour shortages. However, it’s also provided more than its fair share of issues to industry.   

QFVG has spoken on numerous occasions of the very real issue of disengagement from employers; or as we in the industry refer to it as – absconding. Government data suggests over 7,000 workers have absconded (left approved employers) over the last five years in Australia.  

Growers have been speaking to anyone who will listen about workers abruptly walking off the job - often enticed by promises of cash payments from unapproved and unscrupulous employers or choosing to join family members elsewhere in the country – albeit illegally. 

This misuse of the scheme threatens the horticulture industry. Grower’s plan and plant crops based on the promise and meticulous planning of available PALM labour. When workers disengage prematurely to pursue unfounded visa claims, the whole system falters.   

A report published by the ANU Policy Development Centre found that many PALM workers have applied for asylum under Protection Visas - which also allow applicants to continue working in Australia. However, nearly all of these claims have been unfounded, with rejection rates for applicants from PALM-sending countries close to 100%, except for Papua New Guinea. 

To protect the integrity of both the PALM scheme and the Protection Visa system, the Department of Home Affairs has launched a campaign aimed at addressing growing misinformation and encouraging workers to source information only from reliable sources. 

Industry is being asked to share this message to ‘change the conversation’ on Protection Visas. The message is clear - A Protection Visa (subclass 866) is for asylum seekers who are at real risk of significant harm or have a well-founded fear of persecution if they return to their home country. They are not for people who just want to stay longer in Australia.