New polling from the Australia Institute shows that the majority of Australians would support the rights of PALM visa holders to change employer if they are not being treated fairly.
Wed 5 Aug 2026 08.50 AEST
Photo: AAP Image/Dominic Giannini
Last week saw three federal agencies launch a regional crackdown on underpayment, tax compliance, and other unlawful practices that affect migrant workers. As part of Operation Flint, the Australian Taxation Office, the Fair Work Ombudsman, and the Australian Border Force investigated compliance at more than 15 farms in and around Griffith, New South Wales. It is more than likely that they encountered people who came to Australia under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme.
Under the PALM scheme, people from nine Pacific Island nations and Timor-Leste are permitted to work in Australia on a temporary basis. But they are only allowed to work in jobs classified as low, semi, or unskilled, and they are bound to the employer who sponsors their visa. If a PALM visa holder has a problem at work, they can’t leave unless they have permission from this one single sponsoring employer.
To cover the cost of bringing a temporary migrant to Australia, the employer can make deductions — for transport, visa application fees, accommodation, and other costs. This means that, in paddocks and dongers across regional Australia, migrants from the Pacific are left to the whims of employers and labour hire firms who might be good, bad, or ugly. Cases of underpayment, underemployment, and unfit accommodation are common. This too often leads people to “disengage” from the scheme, meaning they walk away from their employer without permission. Many end up working for cash in the black-market economy.
A recent Four Corners program featured the stories of some of these “disengaged” former PALM scheme workers, who now pick fruit and vegetables for unregulated labour hire companies. One man, named Timothy, said he was underpaid by his PALM scheme employer: “I left the PALM scheme because [in] a week I can get only $260-270. How can I help my family [at] home?” He now works 60 hours a week for less than $12 an hour, cash in hand.
One solution to the problem of disengagement would be to allow PALM visa holders to vote with their feet. If they are not being treated fairly by their approved employer, why shouldn’t they be able to work in another similar job? New polling from the Australia Institute shows that the majority of Australians would support the rights of PALM visa holders to change employer if they are not being treated fairly.
Specifically, the poll found that:
The people who participate in the PALM scheme spend months away from their families, and help Australian industries that would be lost without them. Australia relies on them to pick the fruit, harvest the vegetables and cut the meat that ends up on Australian tables. Most Australians want them to be given a fair go.
In his work with Welcoming Australia, Ken Dachi has helped dozens of PALM scheme workers who have had problems with their employer. “A fair go doesn’t come with an asterisk”, he said. “For two years, mayors and communities across regional Australia have been calling for the same basic rights to be extended to the Pacific workers who pick our fruit, staff our aged care homes and keep regional industries running: the ability to change employers, and access Medicare when they’re sick.”
Under the banner of the Mayoral Alliance for the Pacific, communities and mayors from across Australia have banded together to foster more effective engagement with PALM scheme employers and employees.
“When a community embraces PALM workers and genuinely appreciates the important role they play in vital local industries, and treats them well, everybody wins … as has been the case in the Leeton Shire and across much of the Riverina,” said Cr George Weston, Mayor of Leeton Shire Council, NSW, which was a foundation member of the Mayoral Alliance for the Pacific.
But the issues go well beyond the Riverina or NSW, and mayors from Far North Queensland to Tasmania are also part of the Alliance.
“Central Coast in Tasmania is honoured to be the base for over 1000 workers on the PALM scheme each year, who literally bring home our harvest,” said Cr Cheryl Fuller, Mayor of Central Coast Council, TAS. “They are a crucial part of the workforce solution for the North West of Tasmania providing reliable labour for everything from the abattoirs in Smithton to aged care facilities in Port Sorrell.”
“My own local research concurs with the findings of this important polling by the Australia Institute,” Cr Fuller added. “Australians believe in a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay and that housing should be safe. We are not asking employers to do any more than the law already requires. Many people would not appreciate that PALM scheme workers are making a tax contribution to Australia. It is fundamental that they should be able to access the benefits of Medicare to ensure their own health is taken care of.”
If the PALM scheme is going to be a genuine win-win for Australia and the Pacific, the problems that lead to disengagement need to be addressed, and this new polling shows strong public support for granting basic rights to these essential workers.
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