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Trapped and Silent’: Inquiry Hears Alarming Exploitation of PALM Scheme Workers in Regional NSW
Pacific Island workers in Australia’s Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme have told a New South Wales parliamentary inquiry they are facing exploitation, fear and silence despite official safeguards designed to protect them. Legal and human rights experts say the program, central to Australia’s “Pacific family” diplomacy, will need urgent reforms if it is to live up to its promises.
Modern slavery fears in regional NSW
- A NSW parliamentary inquiry into modern slavery risks for temporary migrant workers in rural and regional areas has heard detailed evidence from PALM workers about underpayment, unexplained wage deductions and threats tied to their visa status.
- One worker from Papua New Guinea, who travelled to Tasmania under the scheme and now lives in Coffs Harbour, reported having about 1,100 dollars removed from his pay in a single fortnight, leaving him with only a few hundred dollars to live on.
- Coffs Harbour and other regional centres have become hotspots for complaints about labour hire operators supplying PALM workers to farms, particularly in horticulture.
- Legal Aid NSW told the inquiry that weak regulation and complex business structures make it difficult to hold some labour hire companies to account, with examples of firms registered to backpacker hostels and directors based overseas.
A scheme built on regional diplomacy
- The PALM scheme allows Australian businesses to recruit workers from nine Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste to fill labour shortages in agriculture, food processing and related regional industries, on visas ranging from short seasonal stints to four-year placements.
- Canberra promotes the program as a “win–win”, arguing it boosts regional employers while providing Pacific workers with skills and income to send home, and forms part of a broader package of development and gender equality initiatives across the Pacific.
- Federal investment in Pacific partnerships now extends to health, women’s leadership and skills training programs alongside labour mobility, reflecting a push to deepen ties with what ministers regularly describe as Australia’s Pacific family.
- As of late 2025, more than 30,000 PALM workers are in Australia at any one time, with thousands more expected as the scheme continues to expand.
“Right or wrong, just accept it”
- A major survey by the Migrant Justice Institute of 370 PALM workers found most participants wanted to keep working in Australia but felt they had little real power to challenge poor treatment.
- The report, titled “Right or Wrong, Just Accept It”, concluded that employer‑tied visas foster a culture of fear, where workers worry that speaking up will cost them their job, their visa and any chance to rejoin the scheme.
- According to the survey, nearly two thirds of respondents said they would change employers if that were allowed, and significant numbers cited unsafe workplaces or disrespectful treatment as reasons for wanting to move.
- Many workers believed almost no one in their cohort would report underpayment or unsafe tasks to authorities, and a sizeable minority said they worried employers could block them, their relatives or their wider community from returning to Australia if they complained.
Rising complaints and calls for reform
- The office of the NSW Anti‑Slavery Commissioner has reported a sharp increase in calls to its “1800 Freedom” hotline, with nearly half of all contacts now relating to labour hire companies and the PALM scheme.
- Advocates say New South Wales’ lack of a mandatory licensing system for labour hire firms makes the state attractive to operators leaving jurisdictions with tighter rules.
- A national labour hire licensing regime was recommended by the federal Migrant Workers’ Taskforce in 2019, alongside measures to strengthen coordination between employment and immigration law, but key reforms have been slow to materialise.
One recommendation that has progressed is clarification that all migrant workers, regardless of visa status, are entitled to full protections under the Fair Work Act, closing a long‑criticised loophole in workplace law.
Lives in limbo after disengaging
- The inquiry has also heard about PALM workers who disengage from the scheme after injury or exploitation and then find themselves stranded in Australia, often with no work rights and no income.
- In one case highlighted by SBS News, a woman from the Solomon Islands who was injured in a tractor fall is now living in regional New South Wales without access to regular work or government support, relying on community services and cash‑in‑hand jobs while awaiting her immigration outcome.
- Federal data shows more than 7,000 PALM workers have disengaged from the program since 2019, creating a largely invisible workforce vulnerable to forced labour, debt bondage and other forms of exploitation.
- Community legal centres and multicultural organisations say they are increasingly filling the gap, helping injured or undocumented workers access medical care, legal advice and basic necessities while policy catches up.
Government response and next steps
- Federal agencies point to a suite of safeguards, including employer vetting, workplace monitoring, spot checks, a dedicated helpline and “Community Connections” support services designed to give PALM workers a path to raise concerns.
- Officials also stress that approved employers must meet strict obligations on pay, hours and accommodation, and that the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations can move workers to new placements if serious issues are substantiated.
- Researchers and advocates argue these protections will not be effective without addressing the core power imbalance created by employer‑tied visas and the barriers to independent complaints.
- As the NSW parliamentary inquiry continues, its findings are expected to shape pressure for a national labour hire licensing system and broader overhaul of the PALM scheme to ensure that Australia’s regional workforce strategy does not come at the cost of basic human rights.
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