The number of Fijian workers participating in the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme has risen by a staggering 2298 per cent since June 2019.

This, according to an article by Richard Curtain and Stephen Howes from the Development Policy Centre at The Australian National University citing visa data from Australia’s Department of Home Affairs.

In June 2019, there were 266 Fijians employed under the PALM scheme, by May 2024, the number had risen to 6379.

The article discussed several factors behind the rapid growth, “perhaps most importantly the preference given to PALM workers during COVID and the expansion of PALM from only seasonal to multi-year work.”

The article says in June 2019, there were 5886 PALM visa holders in Australia, five years later, in May 2024, there were 32,513 – an increase of 450 per cent.

Richard Curtain is a research associate, and recent former research fellow, with the Development Policy Centre. He is an expert on Pacific labour markets and migration.

Stephen Howes is Director of the Development Policy Centre and Professor of Economics at the Crawford School of Public Policy at The Australian National University.