Fiji’s labour mobility programs under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) and Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) schemes sent more than $1 billion in remittances back to the country last year, Employment Minister Agni Deo Singh announced in parliament on Monday, marking a significant milestone for the government’s overseas work initiatives.
Singh told MPs in his reply to President Naiqama Lalabalavu’s address that more than 2,000 Fijians took part in the mobility schemes in the reported period, and the money they sent home was used directly to ease household pressures — financing education, housing, healthcare and small businesses. “We have strengthened pre-departure preparation, improved in-country support, and enhanced reintegration pathways to ensure skills gained overseas benefit returning workers,” he said, framing the achievement as part of the coalition government’s poverty-alleviation agenda.
The minister said enhanced worker support now includes a network of Country Liaison Officers (CLOs) in Australia and New Zealand. There are four CLOs deployed across Australia — two funded by Fiji and two by Australia — and an officer in New Zealand, Singh said. The CLOs provide direct welfare assistance and anti-exploitation measures across more than 496 work sites and cooperate with unions such as the Australian Council of Trade Unions to enforce labour standards amid regional concerns about modern slavery and worker mistreatment.
A headline development from last year — the PALM family accompaniment pilot launched in 2024 — is also progressing. The pilot will allow roughly 90 Fijian families to join workers overseas, aiming to reduce the social and emotional costs of long-term separation. Singh noted Australia nominated Fiji among five Pacific nations for up to 200 family-accompaniment spots under the Vuvale Partnership, and the first Fijian families arrived in Australia in August 2024. The government says the pilot is intended to promote deeper ties and better outcomes for workers’ households.
Looking ahead, the ministry expects the labour mobility footprint to grow substantially. By May 2025 Singh said more than 10,500 Fijians will be employed in Australia and another 4,600 in New Zealand, figures that underpin a projection of remittances rising to about $1.4 billion. He reiterated that the programs will continue to prioritise placements for unskilled workers to avoid creating domestic labour shortages while maximising benefits for families reliant on remittance income.
The minister cast these developments as an evolution from short-term employment opportunities towards longer-term economic uplift for communities, with strengthened overseas supports and reintegration pathways intended to convert international experience into sustainable local gains. The latest figures and operational changes signal the government’s push to expand the scale and safety of overseas work as a tool for household-level poverty reduction.
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