Skilled health professionals from Pacific Island nations are increasingly being drawn to Australia, exacerbating the existing healthcare crisis in their home countries, a recent report reveals. This study, conducted by the Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute in collaboration with Public Services International, underscores the problematic circumstances under which these workers are arriving in Australia. Many are experiencing deskilling, underpayment, and exploitation as they transition to better-paid roles, despite being relegated to lower-skilled positions.
The report highlights that care workers have been newly included in the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme, which was initially focused on seasonal agricultural workers. This shift has led to skilled health workers, particularly nurses, leaving their jobs in the Pacific for opportunities in Australia, which ultimately results in a significant drain on local healthcare systems. Countries such as Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu are reported to be operating at as low as 30–40 percent capacity, raising alarms about the viability of their health services.
Specifically regarding Vanuatu, the challenges are compounded by its geographic layout, with a population of 327,000 spread across 83 islands, where 75 percent live in rural areas. The nation is still recovering from the impacts of a major earthquake in December 2024, which disrupted employment and economic stability. Furthermore, the Vanuatu Trade Unions Combined (VTUC) has voiced concerns over antiquated labor laws amid rising issues of non-communicable and communicable diseases.
The shortage of qualified healthcare professionals severely affects Vanuatu, particularly in rural areas where positions for nurses and medical officers remain unfilled. Women dominate the health workforce but are largely represented in lower-paying positions. Even as Vanuatu emerges as a leading supplier of seasonal workers to Australia and New Zealand, remittances from overseas work accounted for 13 percent of the nation’s GDP in 2023, with about 20 percent of the prime-aged adult male population working abroad.
To counterbalance the loss of skilled workers, Vanuatu’s government initiated an Emergency Employment Visa in 2023 to recruit 1,500 foreign workers. The National Labour Mobility Policy adopted in 2024 aims to enhance governance and mitigate the adverse impacts of labor migration. However, workers’ experiences are often marked by tedious working conditions, limited job security, and inadequate rights within social dialogue frameworks.
Concerns regarding poor working environments have led to reports of inadequate living conditions, overcrowding, unsafe drinking water, as well as instances of harassment. Despite the existence of measures aimed at protecting workers, such as blacklisting abusive employers, unions express that success stories remain elusive.
The report concludes by emphasizing that Australia’s dependence on Pacific Island workers to address its healthcare labor shortages is resulting in long-lasting detriment to health systems across the region, with Vanuatu facing some of the most severe ramifications. This situation calls for urgent attention and action to ensure the sustainability of health services in Pacific nations while respecting the rights and contributions of those who migrate in search of better opportunities.
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