Pacific Labour Scheme Officers Stretched Thin
Employers of PALM workers should expect team leaders and HR staff, not liaison officers, to handle most worker questions.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Employment
Live Poll
Should Australia's government do more to protect overseas workers under its labour programs?
Richard Curtain argues that the country liaison officers serving Australia's Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme are too few and face conflicting expectations about their role. For employers of short-term Pacific workers, the gap leaves a support layer whose function is still unclear.
Why it matters
With 15 country liaison officers and two labour attachés in the scheme, each officer covers 1,872 workers, and their location often puts them far from the workers they serve. Adding officers alone will not close the gap unless the role itself is defined.
The scheme has 15 country liaison officers and two labour attachés for roughly 1,872 workers per officer. Survey data show short-term workers route advice to team leaders (49%) and employers (33%) far more often than to officers (about 10%) or complaints to them (3%).
The players
Richard Curtain
Labour market researcher who has analysed Australia's Pacific labour mobility schemes and authored the commentary on officer roles.
Approved Employers of Australia
Industry body representing employers approved to recruit workers under the PALM scheme.
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)
Australian government department that administers the PALM scheme and is drafting terms of reference for the liaison officer role.
The details
Country liaison officers are meant to support Pacific workers placed with Australian employers, but the survey evidence suggests workers rarely turn to them first. Curtain argues that the role's expectations conflict and that officers are scarce and often geographically distant from the workers they serve. He proposes annual end-of-year gatherings between officers and other scheme participants as a way to clarify what the role is for.
Timeline
2021-23: Pacific Labour Mobility Survey asked workers from Kiribati, Tonga and Vanuatu whom they would turn to for help.
2025: Approved Employers of Australia surveyed 35 approved employers covering 12,235 workers.
Over the past three years: Victoria has hosted end-of-year gatherings of country liaison officers and scheme participants.
Market Landscape
The Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme relies on a small network of country liaison officers to support short-term workers from Kiribati, Tonga and Vanuatu placed with Australian employers. The unresolved definition of their role mirrors a wider question about how seasonal labour programmes assign welfare responsibility between government, employers and team leaders.
Employers using PALM workers should review how team leaders and HR staff are expected to handle worker welfare questions, since most workers route them there rather than to officers. Operators should also watch for the draft DFAT terms of reference, which may set clearer expectations for the officer role.
The takeaway
Track whether the draft DFAT terms of reference are published, since they could define the officer role employers will rely on. Review your own supervisor escalation process now, because the survey shows workers are far more likely to raise problems with a team leader than with a liaison officer.
Further reading
For broader context on how these arrangements sit within labour market policy, explore the Employment section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by SolomonTimes.
Live Poll
Should Australia's government do more to protect overseas workers under its labour programs?
