Connecting the Pacific with rural and regional Australia

The expansion of the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme was announced by the Australian Government in the October 2022 Budget. The expansion supports an additional 500 PALM scheme workers to complete their Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing) as part of the Aged Care Expansion (ACE) program.

The Australian Government is working closely with the Pacific family, Timor-Leste and the aged care sector to increase the number of PALM scheme workers in Australia. This will help meet critical labour needs in the sector and ensure aged care residents receive the support they need.
 

Kuarenga, a PALM scheme personal care worker from Kiribati, who looks after aged care residents at Bolton Clark in Longreach, Queensland
Image: Pacific Labour Facility

Skills development is a core objective of the PALM scheme, to ensure it delivers a skills dividend for the region and contributes to the long-term development of sending countries.

Upskilling also increases productivity for employers and provides skills that help meet workforce shortages in rural and regional Australia.

Ten PALM scheme employers in the aged care sector have been selected to deliver the ACE program in partnership with various registered training organisations. These employers have developed a comprehensive and integrated training program that supports the learning, working and welfare needs of ACE program workers.

Workers from most PALM scheme sending countries are represented in the ACE program. They will be employed in aged care homes in New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia. The selection process for the 500 ACE program workers is underway, with workers expected to start their training in 2023.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations work in partnership with sending countries, employers, industry, unions and other stakeholders. They do so to increase the number of skilled workers in priority sectors of growth in the Pacific and Timor-Leste, where there are also worker shortages in Australia.

See also

Operating context – Engaging with the region, State of the Service Report 2022–23.

Australian Government (n.d.) Welcome to the PALM Scheme, Pacific Australia Labour Mobility website, https://www.palmscheme.gov.au/, accessed 5 October 2023.