The International Labour Organization has urged Pacific governments, Australia and New Zealand to overhaul temporary labour migration schemes to cut costs for workers, make it easier to change employers and expand access to health care, in a new report released this week.
Temporary Labour Migration Schemes in the Pacific through the Lens of International Human Rights and Labour Standards reviews Australia’s Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme and New Zealand’s Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) programme and finds that, while both have delivered “real gains” for Pacific workers, families and regional economies, important gaps remain in meeting international labour and human rights standards. The report was produced under the Labour Mobility for Sustainable Development and Climate Resilience project and funded by the Migration Multi-Partner Trust Fund.
Martin Wandera, director of the ILO Country Office for the Pacific, said the programmes have strengthened protections through recent policy reforms but warned more must be done. “Temporary labour migration has delivered real gains for Pacific workers, their families, and regional economies,” Wandera said. “Strengthening these schemes in line with international standards will ensure long-term success and benefit all stakeholders.”
Key challenges identified include persistently high migration costs — travel, documentation and other upfront expenses — which continue to push some workers into debt despite bans on recruitment fees. The report highlights restrictions on changing employers that limit workers’ bargaining power and can leave them trapped in poor working conditions. It also flags shortcomings in non-discrimination and inclusion, noting women and other vulnerable groups are not yet benefiting equally from labour mobility opportunities.
To address those gaps the ILO makes a series of practical recommendations. These include cost‑sharing reforms to reduce out‑of‑pocket expenditure, streamlined procedures for employer transfers to protect worker mobility and bargaining power, expanded and more easily accessible healthcare for seasonal and temporary workers, and simplified access to superannuation arrangements for Pacific workers in Australia. The report further calls for targeted measures to increase the participation and protection of women and under‑represented populations.
The ILO frames the reforms as necessary both to protect workers’ rights and to sustain the development benefits of labour mobility across the Pacific. Labour migration schemes have been central to addressing labour shortages in Australia and New Zealand while providing remittance flows to Pacific economies; the report argues that aligning scheme rules with international labour standards is essential to preserving those gains over the long term.
Produced to support implementation of the Global Compact on Migration, the report seeks to offer governments and scheme administrators a roadmap for making migration fairer and more sustainable. The ILO says its findings are informed by the regional context and by on‑the‑ground evidence from participants in the PALM and RSE programmes, and it recommends that policymakers move promptly to adopt the cost‑sharing, mobility and inclusion measures to mitigate current risks faced by Pacific workers.
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